WAO: The Imperial Civil War
by Commissar Danno
Summary: After nearly a year of tension in the Empire the nation is on the brink of an all out civil war. Battle lines have been drawn, old friends and new will declare their allegiances and the heirs of Sigmar will fight for freedom from the death game and the throne of the Empire. Find out who will stand at the end of this war!
1. The Board is Set

**A/N: I do not own anything belonging to Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, in addition I don't own anything pertaining to Girls und Panzer, I do own the plot and a good portion of the characters though. Also remember ladies and gents keep me honest in the stories and point out in story inconsistences and I'll try to fix it to the best of my ability. Well folks as the orcs say 'ere we go!**

 **Also I do not own Delia, she belongs to SilverSnowVixenAiko. Thank you for allowing me to use her in this story.**

 **Remember folks, if you want to create a story in the setting of WAO get in touch with me and I'll be more than welcomed to work with you. Just PM me and we can work out a deal on a fan made WAO story! I don't want to be the only left to create new material when you folks can be spured on to make your own takes. Depending on how well the story is I'll even include it into the canon of WAO.**

/

To describe the Empire on September 7th 2023 was to describe a chess board larger than Germany. The board was not set up with flat squares, but rather territories that ran from Arid planes in the south, to snow capped mountains in the north, the temperate forests in the center of the Empire and the marshlands in the west. These territories were under control of various factions, some wanted to rule, some wanted to be left alone others just wanted to succeed. But as it was with chess broads there were two players and with them there chess pieces. These pieces had names, they had lives and for most they did not know they were pieces. They knew they were in the game though. Even the leaders of these two factions, who thought themselves to be the masters, were little more than pieces in a grand game….

/

 _White King, Queen, White Kings Bishop and Rook._

 **Averheim- Early Morning**

He was the first count, the first one to earn the title, the first count to own a Rune Fang. Kiabou sat upon his throne in the count's palace, his Rune Fang sheathed next to his throne. Seated before him were three of the most powerful men in Averland besides himself. He had the power to exile these men, to put prices on their heads, even to call in the guards to have them executed, or mobilize the state army to destroy any of their loyal forces. But he needed these men, he needed their skills and their forces if he was going to live and continue to enjoy his life.

Kirk was his chief of staff and the overall commander of Averland's armies, second only to Kiabou in title and was in charge of the skaven. After Kirk came the field commander of the PLA, Major General Tavington. Tavington was in his late twenties and a Brit with long black hair done up into a pony tail with a pair of green eyes. He had shown aptitude when he organized the PLA retreat from the west, then facing raiders from beastmen and the other Imperial States. These two men had a combined total of 5,500 players and over 180,000 bots under their command.

Finally there was the massive orc Big Boss Fethof. He was the leader of the Greenskin's who fought for the PLA. He had under his command, 50,000 greenskins bots.

Kiabou then spoke." Let's keep this short. I don't like staying away from the sluts for long." He then opened his menu and a small vile appeared in his hand as he said." The karma slider for Averland is almost at the other side. A few more days and my armies will be able to freely move against the pricks in the west."

The Elector Count of Averland then poured a line of purple powder onto the table and drew his Runefang. He then used the ancient and sacred blade to separate the powder into smaller lines. As he did so Kirk spoke." My contacts in Tilea have the mercenaries all lined up. Another hundred thousand pikemen ready to be purchased as soon as Averland crosses into the red. They will be able to march up to Nuln in 6 days when the time comes."

Kiabou then asked." The Marianburgers?" He then snorted the line of weird root as he heard his answer.

Tavington answered Kiabou." General Henniker has told me that his armies are ready to march on Altdorf at a moment's notice. His armies are mostly human but he does have some units of Lizardmen and some chaos warbands working for him, in addition to a few other surprises."

Kiabou pulled away from his drug of choice and asked." Surprises? What does he mean by that?"

Tavington shrugged." He's keeping that close to his chest. Though I think it has to do with war machines but I can't be certain if it's for land or their fleet."

Fethof then snorted." Where does dat leave da orcs and skavies?" His accent was thick with orcism mannerism.

Kirk answered him as his boss took another hit of the powder." You'll be marching alongside the main army of PLA. When the time comes for you to commit your boyz though be rest assured you won't be the first wave of cannon fodder."

Fethof seemed content with that answer and Kiabou lifted his head up, his eyes were dilated. He talked fast." There ain't anything new going on. The meetings over." He then stood and turned, running towards the door.

Tavington scoffed when Kiabou was gone." So we have a druggie as a leader, how wonderful."

Fethof then spoke clearly." He's the head of the state in name only. At least we can with him go we can speak like civilized people and do a real meeting."

Kirk added." Once we have Nuln we won't have a use for Kibaou. Till then we need his 50,000 bots and the few 40k weapons he has in the armory."

The other two grunted. Soon they would be free of their leader and soon afterwards free of WAO.

/

 **Black King, Black King's Bishop and Black King's Knight**.

 _Altdorf- Morning_

In the Reikland a similar meeting to that taking place in Averland, was playing itself out with three of the most powerful men in the principality. They were the Reiksguard headquarters in the southern portion of the city near the Imperial Palace. In the room was Field Marshal Steve commander and chief of the Imperial Army (IA) was standing by a window overlooking the city, he was armored in meteoric half plate and what parts of his uniform that was visible was the off white of the Altdorf bot's uniforms. Major General Eugene on the other hand had a crimson uniform under his black cuirass and large pauldrons which a space marine would have been proud of and he was sitting on a chair with his heavy boots on the wooden table. Both wore a dragon skin cloak.

Finally there was the recently arrived Mortimer, the doors closing behind him as he walked into the room. Mortimer was wearing the red and blue robes of a lector of Sigmar under his heavy armor. He had as weapons a shield, across his back and at his side a one handed war hammer. He said to the his fellow cohorts." I've got good news. The steam tank from Middenheim has arrived."

"And how much bad news have you got?" Steve asked as he turned towards Mortimer. Eugene sneaked at the poor quip.

"The bad news is that It's crew needs to be trained up. The tanker's apparently have plenty of experience with cannons and close in fighting, but not so much on how to properly maintain machines." Mortimer finished as he sat next to the table.

Steve joined him less than a moment later and he spoke." I think that Nuln needs to be re-enforced. Our contacts in Averland say that the PLA is about to finally hit the end of the karma bar. Once they hit it then they can over run Nuln in a couple of days."

Eugene and Mortimer, if they were still living their old lives of a business manager and a football coach, could of argued against Steve. After 9 months of leading armies, being taught by military historians and applying those lessons in their pseudo real life, they were inclined to agree with Steve. Nuln was the closet major city to Altdorf besides Marianburg and offered the single safe route that their army could use, without the harassment of the beastmen in the woods. It also allowed Bretonnians to easily pass into the Empire over some passes. They weren't in the war officially yet, but that didn't mean there wasn't volunteer battalions in Marianburg.

That was a point that was a problem though, Marianburg was closer to Altdorf with no serious obstacles in the way over Nuln. There was the army from Middenheim which could match the Marianburgers if they were fighting alone. But money from the trade hub of the old world had been able to hire on at least a thousand players to act as mercenaries. The complete combined armies of Altdorf and Middenheim could defeat the Marianburgers in the field, but then that would leave the south relatively undefended. It was a game of balance at this point, one which all three were playing against the PLA and each other.

Eugene spoke next." I agree. But which one of us should leave and who should stay?"

Steve then said, while looking at Eugene." I would say you." He then lifted up his hand before Mortimer could protest." It's because your good on the defense and the counter attack. I'm decent at leading during a pitched battle, which when it comes to blows with Marianburg I think we can say that is going to be fairly important. Finally Mortimer here can call on a few thousand flagellants to lead a counter attack if one of us falls."

Mortimer added after thinking up an answer." I also have the power of the Heldenhammer. Plus if you both fall then there really isn't anything I could do about it." Then he added silently.' And who ever survives and is victorious becomes the Prince of Reikland.'

There was another war of politics and popularity in the trio. Each of them was set to change the course of the Empire depending on one vote, the vote of an Elector. Should an empire player get the rare and prestigious power of an Elector they could vote for the next Emperor of the Empire. The Emperor then would have the full resources of the Empire under its control instead of just one province or a religious order. A man could take the power of an Elector, but at the same time unless he had the backing of people to watch over him he could soon find a dagger in his back.

Mortimer had achieved the rank of Lector of Sigmar, which gave him a vote, but removed himself from the running to become the Emperor. Yet at the same time if he was able to complete the right quests before any rivals for lectors came along to challenge him, he could take the position of Arch-Lector. If he became the Arch-Lector that would make him more or less making him a pope… which he found hilarious because he was atheist in the real world.

Kiabou had taken a similar route in becoming an elector count, though he had used the lives of several hundred of his followers to become an elector count when the quest became available. He had both the soldiers and treasury of an entire state at his disposal. He did not have the powers to declare war against another state of the Empire, not so long as he was part of it. But when his state reached the end of the karma meter….

Eugene added his opinion. "That leaves a problem. Thinker's is going to hate having me show up. He has been spending a lot of time and silver on assuring his people that Nuln can stand on it's own. When my army shows up at the gates I'm not sure if he is going to let us pass through them, he has his pride after all. Yes his generals could force him to open the gates but then we will be dealing with a populace not welcoming to the re-enforcements. We don't want to deal with a uprising that Thinker lead last year."

Steve stroked his goatee in thought. He then said." A good offense is a good defense and I have a plan to put it in motion for a good ofense."

/

 _White Queens Knight, White Queens Rook and Pawn._

 **Marianburg- Late Morning**

Rosalina's 28-gun brig _The Titans Hand_ was on patrol on the River Reik. She and her crew were not sailors that belonged to the Marianburgers military, but were privateers. This was a recent upgrade from their previous distinction of being pirates. The pay was steady and they had a port of protection from anti-pirate guilds and other pirates. But at the same time it did not pay as good as taking cargo laden ships from players for a great payday. Now they had rules that if they took a ship the cargo went first to the Marianburgers and then her crew were paid a quarter of it's value. That was when they were lucky to go pirating instead of patrolling the waters around Marianburg.

For the past month they had been hired on to act as mercenaries and to work alongside others who were hired to fight for Marianburg. In the city there were representatives from all the factions in the Warhammer World. Outside of Imperial state troops the second largest faction were the Chaos Warriors with three hundred players, then came the Elves with a couple hundred players a piece, there were something around seventy dwarfs and then there was a small guild's worth of forty lizardmen.

As her ship sailed down the river it passed by a camp that made her skin crawl. The Dixie Boys were not allowed in the city, not ever since a few incidents when they first showed up. There were five hundred Bretonnian players on the river banks. Her pirate guild were killers but they didn't do anywhere near half the things the Dixie Boys had done in their own country. All of the knights and their servants had variations of grey tunics and talberds. They then had flags, heraldry and designs on their shields and clothes which was a blue cross on a red field. On the blue cross were 10 stars and to either side was a sword and a collar. Some of the worst dredge to make their way into WAO had joined Brettonnia when it first started and now they were on the same side as her.

She turned her eyes away from the camp and sighed. She had a pair of passengers to deal with that were representatives of Bretonnia and the Lizardmen. The Bretonnian was named Duke Philip and was thankfully not part of the Dixie Boys, but rather part of 'King' Giles court. Rosalina didn't trust the Quebecois as far as she could throw him full armored up an with two cannon balls tied around his legs. But she had to work with him. The other representative was a stink lizardgirl called Chica, she was a Terradon rider and had bright blue scales covering her body. Roslina trusted her somewhat more than the Bretonnian if by the virtue that she was just a mercenary and not a war criminal like Philip probably was.

Philip stood at the bow of the ship observing the shore as they went down the river. He was a commander in the Bretonnian forces; his forte was ground selection for the coming campaign down to Altdorf. Chica had the same mission but with her razorback she could observe a larger amount of territory while being safe from gun and cannon fire. She was in the crows nest with her razor back, in another 15 kilometers she would be flying off to reconnaissance further down the Reik.

Rosalina welcomed her services, especially if there were any Altdorfian vessels who were making scout trips. If they were smaller than her ship she could have a find pay day. Anything larger and she would turn her ship around and go back to Marianburg. So it was that she and her crew sailed down the river.

/

 **Black Queens's Knight and two pawns**.

 _Altdorf- Late Morning_

Ulrics Fist, a Conquer class Steam Tank, made its way to the engineers barracks west of Altdorf on a cobbled road. The metal rimmed wheels clanked and clinkered against the pavement as the tank drove to its destination. In the cupola it's commander guided the driver to make sure she didn't hit anything by accident.

Kazumi Orai was the tank commander and technically the owner of the metal monstrosity and just 16 years old. Kazumi stood at 154CM tall and had short brown hair and eyes, with short bangs framing her face. Her driver was Michele Wittmann, a German girl in her late teens. She stood at 165CM with blue eyes and had long blonde hair done in a braid. Michele was in the belly of the tank driving it with levels, much like a tractor from the 1930's or earlier would have been set up. Both girls wore a blue tunics and medium length utility skirts, that were trimmed in white and red. For some protection while dealing with the tank they wore thick leather gloves and covering their eyes were brass goggles.

Because of the loud sounds that the steamtank generated, especially since the tanks engine was right behind Michele's head, verbal communication was nearly impossible between the commander and driver. Instead Kazumi would tap Michele's right or left shoulder with her foot to indicate which direction she should be driving the tank. Michele could drive the tank alone with a narrow vision slit but at the same time this method was much easier.

Kazumi directed Michele to the left on a new road, that lead directly to the barracks. This road was dirt and bumpy, which given there was no suspension on the tank, was quite difficult on the buttocks. Thankfully the road was only a few hundred yards from the barracks and it was short drive.

The barracks were a series of cabins with large shacks attached to them which housed that crew's or that particular engineers war machines. In addition to the shacks were a trio of stables across a path from the war machines, these housed beasts of burden to transport the guns. Finally at the end of the path were three barns with a small cabin attached to each one. On each of the barn doors was a crest belonging to each starting city under Imperial Army control. In front of the building with the Middenheim crest, a fortress in white on a blue field, were four girls in similar clothing to Kazumi and Michele.

Kazumi waved at them and three out of the four waved back, saved for a little blonde girl. Kazumi tapped both shoulders of Michele and knocked on the metal above her head. A signal to stop. Michele then came to a halt about five meters from the other girls. Kazumi was the first out of the tank as Michele turned it off, expelling the remaining steam within the vehicle which caused a very loud whistle to be heard. Most players who heard it the first time would of jumped at the sound, the Middenheimers certainly did so when they unlocked the tank last week. The other tanker girls though had no reaction to it.

They walked forward and one of the girls, a tall strawberry blonde girl with green eyes in her early twenties extender her hand." Hi there I'm Sandy Pully. I'm the commander of the Altdorf tank Fury and the armored company. This is my driver Ericka." Sandy spoke with an American accent. Ericka smiled and clicked her heels together." Hallo, I'm Ericka Eckhart. I hope the journey from Middenheim wasn't that bad?" She was also blonde but her hair was a crew cut style and she spoke with a German accent.

Kazumi said." Other than a few mechanical failures and the dirt roads, it wasn't that bad." Michele then landed on the ground and Kazumi continued." Oh I'm Kazumi Orai and this is Michele Wittmann."

A black haired woman in her early twenties with medium long black hair then spoke with a British accent." Good to meet you Kazumi. I'm Tammy Atkins of the Lions Roar and my driver is-."

This time the youngest girl, who couldn't be more than 13 and a blonde page boy's hair cut then spoke up." I'm Katyusha Ivonovich and how you ever got more than a mile without your tank blowing up I don't know." She said in a strong Russian accent.

Kazumi rubbed the back of her head." Uh yeah. We kinda ran into that problem when tried running the tank for the first time. We didn't understand how to blow the steam valves when there was to much pressure built up and almost lost the tank. Actually we need your help on understanding how to maintain the boiler."

"That doesn't excuse why your nearly an hour late." Katyusha added irritably.

Michele answered the Russian pistol." We haven't eaten since yesterday so we stopped in Altdorf to get a breakfast and see the Imperial Fleet." What a sight it was from the waterfront restaurant. There were over two dozen ships which ranged from cogs, to brigs and frigates and the massive 196 gun flagship. It was a welcomed sight over the tight confines of the tank.

Before the little Russian could go off on another tangent Sandy pressed her hand down on the girls head and said." We'll give you the in's and out of tankery soon enough. Till then I welcome you to Imperial Army Armored Company, or as the boys like to call us The Gun Bunnies."

/

 _White King's Knight_

 **Averheim- Noon**

"Aaaannnnddddd." Jeremy pulled the trigger on the pistol which resounded with a loud boom in the tavern. The shot hit the tankard balanced on top of one of his mates head and knocked it off." Boomshacklaka!" The rest of his buddies slapped his armored back. Jeremy then downed a tankard of beer and sheathed his pistol. Jeremy was an older player in his mid 30's with long black hair done up in a pony tail, he was slim in build and had a rougish saber scar across his left cheek.

Jeremy and his band of soldiers were pistoliers in service to the PLA. It was a job that he loved as did his mates. They could ride, they could scout and have freedom on some quests. Not as much as the knights but they still could take a lot more leave than the infantry.

There was also a bit of highwaymen in each of the pistoliers. As evidence by their lack of caution in running up close to an enemy and preforming ride byes. The little game that they were playing was safe for them to preform because of the fact they were in their home city. Friendly fire was no more than a blow that could easily be shrugged off here. In the field though that was a different story.

Jeremy and his squad of Pistoliers were on a short leave for the day after patrolling to the south east by the dwarfen realms. A boring task but at the same time a safe one since the dwarfs didn't have a practically big bone to pick with Averland. Some traitors had left the PLA and made friends with a dwarf city, but they were of little concern.

Jeremy was eyeing up some fine NPC wenches booty when he heard a ding of a message in his inbox. He sighed and put his tankard down to open his menu. He saw the message was from the colonel, his commander and proceeded to open it. The message was short and to the point.' You and your squad are to meet with Colonel David in Gellenfeild by sun set. You'll be his scouts until further notice.'

The pistolier snorted and flicked the message away. He then open his inventory for a map and quickly found Gellanfeild. It was thirty miles to the East and on a paved road. The journey would take about three hours, which given it was already afternoon…." Damn." He said.

'The boy's aren't going to like this.' He thought before putting the map away. Jeremy then spoke." Last call boys, leave's been canceled. We're going north."

/

 **Black Kings Rook**

 _Nuln- Afternoon_

A mile East-South East of Nuln there was a series of three hills turned into entrenchments and a training grounds for Imperial Army South (IAS) called Britenfield. The northern and largest hill was Hualt's Dike, south of that was Crow's Levee and just south of that was Ashers Levee. Linking the three hills was a narrow gauge railway with two small engines running back and forth along the hills. The rail lines was also large enough for the grand mortars and great cannons to be rolled onto the track and pulled along. The main purpose of the rail lines though was to shepherd men and supplies to and from the city of Nuln.

On Hualt's Dike, most of the few men and the boys of the 1st Imperial Horse Artillery of the Brunswick Corps practiced melee under the midday sun. The regiment was made up of twenty people, of which only half made up the actual artillerymen. The others were a mix of engineers, guards and horsemen to drive the specially limbered guns. They were armed with cutlasses and had light leather armor when they went to battle. The regiment of artillerists fenced with each other under the tutelage of their Colonel Michal Ikari and Major Euan.

Michael Ikari was 15, he was Irish by birth and half Japanese on from his father side. With a blending of his father's eyes, height and black hair and mother's Irish looks. He wore the black uniform of Nuln, which consisted of a pair of trousers, a white shirt and a jacket with two lines of silver buttons along with a pair of crossed white cannons on his collar to show his specialty. To donate his position as a commander he wore a bi-corner hat.

Euan was a year older than Michael and a good half foot taller at around six feet tall. He had a similar uniform to his colonel, but instead wore the Tarelton style helmets that most of the regiment wore. The helmet was a leather one with a metal ridge running from forehead to the back of the head. There was a short black horse hair Mohawk that ran on the ridge of the helmet. He was a full Scotsman, though in the last year of high school along with another member of the Regiment. His face was long and his hair was black. He was fencing with a gunner.

The gunner was the youngest member of the regiment at thirteen and it's youngest NCO. Lance Corporal Like's Gaming was a Dane who was living in Germany with his parents when WAO came out. He stood at around five two, with a pudgy face and had bright, curly auburn hair. He was doing his best to throw off Euan with insults and using the trick to 'spin to win'.

" Turn around you Scottish bastard!" He giggled and then ran behind Euan to hit him from behind. Euan countered by running behind Like's Gaming to repeat the same tactic.

Off to the side next to the pair, Lieutenant Colonel Jack, defeated his sparing partner. He Looked over to Euan, his classmate and Gaming, then proceeded to face palm." Oh god what the hell are you two doing?" He asked in his almost English accent. He was a classmate of Euan, but that is where the similarities ended. He was several inches shorter and had a more rounded face with a pair of green eyes and light brown hair with the beginnings of a scraggily beard under his chin.

"Trying to catch this Danish son of a bitch." Euan said in his thickly accented voice.

Gaming then laughed." You can't catch me." He then was able to cut the cloth on Euan's back, careful not to actually strike him.

Jack then looked at Michael and said." That is so retarded… are you going to let this go on?"

Michael shrugged." They are getting result's. And it would confuse the enemy when unleased on them."

" Not to mention it's the most hilarious game of grab ass I've seen all day." This came from under a nearby great cannon and was unlike the other voices in the regiment. This one was an American accent, though of Mid-Atlantic origin.

Michael walked up to the cannon and tapped his foot on the packed earth. "Color Sergeant Oak, why are you not training with the rest of men?" He asked the man under the cannon.

Color Sergeant Oak pulled himself from under the limber and then stood to his full height of six feet three inches and half that broad, he was also the oldest man in the regiment at twenty four. He was handsome with a strong jaw, with short light brown hair and thick muttonchops. His eyes were a sky blue and deep set. He wore the same style uniform as the other men in his regiment, but instead wore a shako with a silver horn on it and green braid. He also was armed with a heavy cavalry saber over the cutlass that the rest of the regiment had.

" Just having a rest till arty practice is up and running sir. At that point I'll be working just as hard as any of you gents." He spoke with a smirk.

The right side of Michael's face twitched when he heard Oak speak." And what do you think about when the enemy over run our gunnery position and you have to rely on that sword of yours?"

Oak tapped the hilt of his sword." Oh well I don't expect to be around when that happens. I'll probably be waiting behind the arty guard's till they clear out the position, then I'll be shooting as usual."

"And let your comrades die?" Michael asked, his fists clenching.

Oak smiled sheepishly." Welp my skills are not really suited to close combat over arty."

Ikari then smirked evilly." Then as your commander I order you to show me how well of a bad fighter you are. Euan, fence him."

Euan then walked towards Oak, his sword drawn." Aye. Let's see what ya can do Oak."

Oak then sighed and drew his own sword and advanced." Sorry I gotta do this buddy."

"Eh, why you say that?" Euan then lunged with his cutlass.

Oak dodged to the left and grabbed Euan's left wrist and then punched him with his hand guard on his saber. That stunned Euan for a moment and Oak followed up by kicking out his knees and sending him to the ground. Oak then pressed his boot to Euan's blade, pinning it to the ground. This took less than five seconds to send the major to the earth.

As Euan was on the ground recovering, Oak said." And that's why I said sorry."

Michael clapped his hands." Well you've proven yourself wrong Color Sergeant."

Oak let off the sword and leaned against the great cannon's wheel, resting his saber against the spoke." I said I don't have any skill, I didn't use any skill when I flatten Euan. No offence sir." He nodded to the Scotsman.

Euan shot his free hand up into the air, a thumb sticking up." Perfectly alright mate!"

Michael then gave a single chuckle." Teh. Well then, in that case I suggest that we move on to Artillery training. Colonel Jack will take the lead, Likes Gaming you'll be gunning and Oak you'll be loading for him. And that will be for the next week at that, since I want him to perfect his artillery skill's since as he has some skill over you."

Oak grunted.' Alright, that I deserve.' He thought.' I don't want to cause any more trouble that makes me lose any time with Delia.'

Oak then set about loading the great cannon 'The Lions Roar'. He set about getting a cloth bound bag of powder and pushed it into the muzzle of the cannon. He got a wooden ram rod and then pushed the powder bag into the base of the cannon. He then looked up and asked Gaming." What round type?"

There were three types of cannon rounds available to use with field gun class of cannon. The field guns were ranging from the smallest being Falcone's, to Sakers, to Demi and Finally the Great Cannons of the Empire. The three types of rounds available to these guns were round, grape and when they were able to unlock it for that particular gun an explosive shell. Likes Gaming said." Round, I want to snipe a scarecrow." Below the heights was a series of low foot hills with scare crows, large round targets and other targets for the arty players to shoot at. These were set up every night by non-combatant members of the Imperial Army.

As Likes Gaming primed the cannon, Oak went the artillery carriage and selected a thirty pound solid round shot from a secured cage. He grunted as he lifted the heavy cannon ball up and took it over to the cannon, then rolled it down the muzzle. He then used the ram rod to force the ball firmly against the powder bag." What are you gunning for?"

"Scare crow at 400 meters. Adjust to the right." Gaming said and Oak gripped the right wheel of the gun and started to move it." Hold it." Likes then went into firing mode and adjusted the cannon by moving his crosshairs up and down. There were some elements of realism in the game when it came to cannons, but at the same time to make it playable for one or two players certain sacrifices had to be made during the building of it. One was making it easier to shoot a cannon over the real life counterparts. Oak stepped a few paces away to allow Like's to fire, the smoke could still obscure eyes in the moments after firing infront of the gun and he would act as spotter.

Likes Gaming then took a moment after his final adjustment and then brought the lighter down on pin hole. There was a brief fizzing as the finer gunpowder was rapidly burnt away, then there was the deep 'boom!' of the powder charge exploding. Oak tracked the heavy cannon ball, it's round shape glinting in the sun light, as Likes Gaming started to roll his gun back into position. The shot was close to it's intended target, but the shot was to high and to the right of the target. The shot bounced and dug up the earth, sending plums of easily tractable smoke.

"Adjust a quarter inch up and a half inch to the left." Oak said to Like Gaming. Then he smiled." I could hit that right off if I was still in the rifles." Oak said and watered the sponge end of his ram rod. Other guns on the hieghts fired at similar targets. The entire ridge becoming covered in smoke as the thunder of the guns resounded and dimmed.

As Oak cleaned the cannon Like's Gaming asked." If you could of hit the ass of a fly at that distance why didn't you stick with the rifles?" The teenager got out a powder bag and put it at the end of the muzzle.

Oak rammed down the power bag and said." Well I didn't like running around in the woods much. I rather like a roof over my head thank you very much."

Like's Gaming then primed the cannon." Any other reason?"

Oak chuckled as he passed by Gaming to get more round shot." The other reason? Bitch's love cannons."

/

 _White Queens Bishop_

 **Under the Darkwald Forest- Afternoon**

Wizzel was a jezzail armed skaven player and sniper of Clan Freaka. He was in his early forties and covered in grey-blonde fur under his ragged green-brown robes and cowl. Around him was a clawing withering, stinking mass of ratmen as they moved through the tunnel. The tunnel was one of many thousands that connected the old world and even a few to Lustria. The tunnels could be dangerous, especially powerful field bosses and other Skaven clans were a problem to be sure of, but this was relatively safe area.

Above him were roots of the trees in the Darkwald. The tunnel was fairly dry and wide enough for a dozen clan rats to walk in formation. Because of the tunnels location most of the mobs that Wizzel and his fellow clan rats face were beastmen and they were easily dealt with a tide a vermin. It was a decent place for his people to level grind because of the ability to quickly slay mobs. Even units of mobs could be quickly dealt with in the narrow confines of the tunnel.

Wizzel was not on a level grind trip this time. He and three of his fellow players were actually hunting for players. Specifically members of the Imperial Army and other players who aided them. It would help sow some confusion behind the enemy lines before the upcoming war. Maybe even pull some resources away from the front lines.

If it made it easier so he could escape this game and get back to his kids he was willing to kill for it. He had done it before and he would do it again, he would deal with the consequences when he left the game. If he got sent to prison for his crimes, he didn't care, so long as he could see and talk to his daughters he could live with himself.

He wasn't the only one in the small hunting squad. There were other players with specialties, one was an assassin in melee, another was a grey seer and then there were two engineers. One was a typical Skaven engineer who had his minion bots carry his myriad of weird inventions. The other was amazingly a melee specialist, but had re-created 3D Maneuver Gear based on the same gadget from Attack on Titan. Wizzel had seen the engineer use the gear to take down a giant and he was suitably impressed by that action.

And so he marched under the roots, to his doom or another step to freedom he didn't care.

/

 **Black King's Rook Pawn**

 _Late Afternoon_

A carriage abled itself south on the highway along the river Reik, just south of Worlitz. The carriage was an NPC operated service for players traveling the Empire, one which they could pay for to allow them rest and not worry about riding a horse. Currently there were four players taking advantage of the service.

Of the four, one of them was already asleep, a male dwarf player who rested against the left side of the carriage. The other three were sharing stories to past the time. An officer of the Reikland had finished telling his tale of patrolling and adventuring on the border of Averland. He was an Indian with the name Sanjay. He in his early thirties with a narrow face which was clean shaven. Sanjay was a lawyer who went to England to study, there he was Introduced to Warhammer Fantasy via table top. He found the game rather interesting but could not afford the miniatures at the time, though he did buy WAO now that he had a disposable income.

He was listening to another passenger finish up on his story. This player was sitting next to the dwarf, pressing up against him with his bulk. The player was a Canadian college student with the name Trace. He was a merchant from Nuln and was telling how he had procured a dragon's hide on an expedition to the chaos wastes.

"… So with the hide divided up between me and Agil, I headed back to Altdorf and sold it to the Kiowask Brothers. That's why the boy's in charge of the city all have those fancy capes and I'm ten thousand gold pieces richer." Tracy finished speaking.

The final passenger spoke, she sat next to Sanjay and was able to see the mountains from her seat." Well I suppose it's my time to share a story." Delia said with a smile.

She was a beastman, but unlike so many others who were cloven hoofed and goat like, she was quite different. First off was that unlike many other beastmen, who wore little more than armor, she was wearing an Empire waist dress (of the Napoleonic era, not of the fantasy world she currently inhabited). Her feet were paw like and covered in fur like the rest of her body. Her legs were long and thick leading up to wide hips. Her rounded bum sat upon her fluffy, purple and white skunk tail. Her dress struggled to contain her large Double-F breasts and they jiggled with each bump on the road. Her face was that an humanized skunk but much softer and cuter on the eyes. Her bright sapphire eyes were framed by her light grey hair.

Delia began to speak to her fellow passengers, her accent placed her from England." I don't have many adventures but there is one from the early days when the game started."

She placed her hands in her lap as she started her story." When the game started I choose to be an Averlander and that was the second biggest mistake in my life. The biggest was choosing to put on the Nerve Gear." Delia tapped the side of her heard for emphasis.

" In the first couple of hour's I saw that a few gangs form up in Averheim and stop any one from getting out of the city. I knew this was going to get bad and I needed to get out, so I came up with a plan. I heard that beastmen were inherently tougher than humans so I did the faction switch to them. I then was forced to change my appearance, so I added the fur, tail and head to my body. So with my new stats I jumped into the River Aver and swam down river. If I still had a human body at that point hypothermia would of taken me after a few minutes, but after ten miles I made it to a small village and made it to an inn to dry off. After that I stop by a shop to get some new clothes. Then I joined with a beastman warband that spawned near Averland."

She then gave a short nervous chuckle." I thought that would be the end of my troubles. I looked after the younger members of the warband, we fought lower level mobs while the older people took care of the higher level enemies. The warband got along with the Averlanders but we kept the kids away from the city and I stayed with them. Then the night of the long horns happened."

Delia shook her head to clear it." I got a message about the betrayal from our leader before the Averlander's destroyed his inn. That inn also had most of the warband in it and I learned later the Averlander's used cannons to destroy it. I took the kids and the few other survivors with me to the North West of Steissen where there was a forest we could hide in. We thought that we could be safe until we could make it across the river Aver. We were of course wrong."

She then sighed." The camp was in a clearing with a bray stone circle and there were three other adults that survived including myself. We took turns between looking after the kids, pickets and rest. That day I was on patrol and I was watching the path leading to the stone circle. It was far from the road, so the only people on it must have been going to the circle. I was on the east side of the path hiding underneath the road in a hole hallowed out a couple of nights before. On the other side of the path was a hill, but we didn't want to set up a watch post there because it was too obvious that a watch post could be set up there, so the others decided to put the watch post where it wasn't going to be. From where I was I could see the path and anything on it because it curved.

I saw the platoon of 10 players, low leveled one's without any bots of their own except for one with a cannon crew and their officer with a unit of 10 handgunners. I was about to open up my menu when I saw a skirmisher emerge from nearby bushes about three yards away. He was close enough that he could hear me if I opened my menu. He wasn't moving on either. Every moment that I waited to open the menu the platoon was getting closer and closer to the circle. If I opened it to early then the Skirmisher would of heard me and my spear would be useless in the hole. While if I opened it to late then my people would have been surrounded and killed off.

As the platoon rolled above me I was about to open my menu, the sound of the footsteps and armor clinking would of covered the sound. That was when I heard the crack of a musket firing. At first I thought the Skirmisher found me and missed, or that one of the kids was found by the patrol. I heard a shout from above me and the skirmisher ran to the side of the path and fire his musket up into the hillside on the other side of the road.

I didn't see the battle that took place above me, but I could hear it. The Averlanders shouted and screamed, but they were overwhelmed with rifle fire. The last of the battle I saw was when the skirmisher ran from the path and a single pursuer chased after him. I saw the pursuer leap over my hiding place and threw his saber at the Skirmisher. That was one of the most stupid things I ever saw. Then the saber actually got the skirmisher in the throat before the pursuer could land."

That got chuckles from the two awake passengers. Delia also shared a smile, though the memory was not entirely pleasant. She then continued." When he landed he went over to the fallen skirmisher and retrieved his saber. He then turned around as he sheathed the sword. He was completely covered in blood, but his dark green uniform hid it except for his face and hands. He proved that he was not on the Averlander's side so I showed myself to him. As it turned out he was a member of the Nuln rebels under Colonel Sharpe, part of the rifles and he was alone."

"And who was this rebel?" Sanjay asked.

Delia smiled genuinely." His name is Oak. He brought the remains of my warherd to the rebels and they protected us. After the Uprising we went our separate ways, he stayed in Nuln and I, along with the children, went to Altdorf. I've been working at the orphanage ever since." 'Though we've been in touch in a verity of ways.' Delia thought for a brief moment of joy and pleasure.

"And that's my story." Delia finished. There was then a jolt and the dwarf awoke.

"Eh story?" He shook his head." I have stories."

"Well miss Delia here has finished up her story. Why don't you tell us your's?" Asked Tracy.

The dwarf grunted." Yeah. I think I will."

/

 _White Kings Knights Pawn_

 **Gellanfield - Early Evening**

Duncan was in his mid-twenties and a sergeant in the PLA. He was 5'10 and had short black hair, his build was somewhat heavy set. He was a halberdier user and armored in marion helmet along with a heavy cuirass.

He was currently standing at attention outside of the town along with the rest of battalion. There were fifty men in the battalion and four regiments. It may seem to be reverse that a battalion would have regiments but that was part of lore of the world. The regiments could be interchanged with companies with their roles not changing.

The first regiment was that of the 27th Halberdiers, it was the largest with fifteen soldiers and over 330 bots, of which Duncan was the second in command of. After the Halberdiers came the 16th Swordsmen with thirteen duelists and 200 bots. Then there was the 22'd Firelocks, with twelve men and over 150 musket armed bots. Then there was the regal a dispatch of The Knights of the Dawn. There were only ten of them but they had 50 full plated mounted bots, a powerful armored fist.

Then there was the three detachments assigned to the battalion. The first had been around the battalion for the past two months, an artillery section of two sakers commanded by four artillerists from the 3'd artillery regiment. They were reliable and Duncan liked them after serving in a few battles with them. Then came up the quarterstaff corps, they took care of the equipment, food and other odds and ends. They were welcomed. It was the newbies that he was concerned with.

They had arrived not even an hour ago. They were only eight pistoliers but had over a hundred bots along with them. As soon as their commander had gone to Colonel David the rest of the players went to the tavern to continue a party they were having before they left to join the battalion. They didn't even make an effort to socialize with the other soldiers in the battalion.

They were lined up now along with the rest of the men. Lined up though was too strong of a term, the pistoliers were just hanging onto their horses as they sat upon their mounts. The only one not having any trouble with his balance was their commander, who was leaning forward on his horse.

Colonel David stood in full dress plate in front of the nearly thousand men and bots. David was a little younger than Duncan, he had green dyed hair and brown eyes. He was armed with a shield and sword, of which both were sheathed and strapped to his back.

He then spoke aloud to his battalion." Men, tonight we start our march into the Moot. Our mission is to raid, ravish and otherwise pillage the region of all good, food and resources."

That elicited a cheer from the entire battalion. It wasn't often enough that they could let loose like that. They could buy a lot with the loot from such a mission. New clothes, good food and whores were the true payment to the soldiers of the PLA.

/

 **Black Queens's Rook and four Pawns**.

 _Konrads Watch- Evening_

Roshi leaned back in her chair and relaxed with a cup of tea in her hands. Around her was a sea of conversation in the small keep of the highway fort. She and her battalion of dwarfs were on a mission along with players in service to Weiss, along with the old man and his daughter. Most of the players in Weiss's service were former members of Averland, but there were some members from the other city states of the empire. There were 70 human players, along with a few elven mercenaries at the fort, only five remained at the main castle on the border to the east. There was the opposite number of dwarfs under the command of Roshi.

Most of the players were outside in the forts grounds, they were protected from the undead mobs out in the night. Though the ground was cold and night not especially much warmer, it was safe. Safe enough for the expedition to spend the night in the field.

Tomorrow the expedition would leave for a ruined castle to the south and clear it of any undead. Then it was time to expand the power of the dwarfs further into the Empire with their Imperial Protectorates when that castle was rebuilt.

Over all Roshi enjoyed the job of being both a conqueror and a rebuilder. She hadn't fought against a player ever since Zhufbar took over Cragmere and she was glad. Going against a computer program was so much more welcomed than against a human. Both because she preferred fighting a program that was relatively dumb compared to fighting against a thinking being and that she knew that when she buried her axe into a players head she was killing them in the real world.

Work made her turn her mind away from those dark days. Building a line of fortresses and towns into Slyvania was a welcomed reprieve and a rewarding task. She had her friends to help take her mind off of past and she had made good memories with them.

Desiree was at the bar and snuggled under her husband's arm, they were her closet friends out of all the others in this world. After that came Lizbeth and Kirito, who were arguing at a table about materials and the best way to make weapons. They weren't dating but Roshi could slice the tension between those two with a knife. Then there was a certain blonde haired girl sitting at the table with Roshi.

Bertha was a magic user of the lore of life, her forte wasn't in the combat aspect though she did have some spells to use in case she was needed on the front line. She was more of a gardener and a healer, in the re-established towns she used her powers to revitalize the fields or help grow crops. In the field she had saved the life of many a player.

"We'll be going into Stirland soon." Bertha said to Roshi out of the blue.

Roshi looked over to the young girl and shook her head." I doubt it. Slyvania is a big region and your father plans on taking it all." Then a pause." You'll be dealing with undead for a long time Bertha. Not the living players just yet."

Bertha then bit her lip." But we'll have to fight the Averlander's soon. Poppa said he knows he has to fight them eventually, he also said that it will be soon."

Roshi thought before saying." Unless the PLA moves close to Slyvania I still think your father and I won't be fighting the Averlanders. If they do then we'll see about fighting them. But the Averlanders have more problems in the west so they'll move west before they remember your people. By then I'm sure the westerners would of thrashed the PLA so hard they couldn't come after you."

After months and months of planning and listening to the threats Averland posed in the south Roshi understood what could happen. There were plans in her kingdom for what would happen if Averland decided to strike east. If they did they would find the dwarven army of Zhufbar to be a rock that would break the tides of war.

That seemed to placate the girl and she went to drink her own tea. The pair were not a traditional set of friends, due to the age gap between them Roshi was more of a big sister to Bertha. It was a role that Roshi was playing more and more often as she became a leader to her dwarfs. It was something she found uncomfortable especially given her experience with her own elder brothers, every day it got easier. It helped that Roshi put on the funny cockney accent she picked up from TV, it made them both laugh.

The pair then heard the 'thump thump chug' of a gyrocopter above them. The scout had returned.

/

 **Black Queen, Black Queens Bishop and Pawn**.

 _Hochland, four miles south of Hard Oak citadel- Night_

Under the boughs of the forest along the old road was heard the thunder of hooves. A stagecoach cracked and creaked as a team of six horses pulled it along at a thunderous pace. It's driver was a young Skaven scraming 'hey haw!' as he whipped the digital creatures. The single passenger was standing on top of stage to the best of his ability.

The ability to stand on the top of a stage was a hard enough task if it was not for the fact that the passenger was dealing with another set of problems. That set of problems were half a dozen highway men nearing the rear the carriage. There were originally two more highwaymen, but the passenger had dealt with them at a range with his repeater pistol before he climbed on top of the stage. Now he had his blessed hammer of might drawn and ready for the mobs.

"Come on ya bastards!" Adler yelled as bullets whizzed by his head.

Three of the highwaymen pressed their horses on hard. One went to the right of the coach and the other two to the left. Adler drew his long barreled flintlock pistol and unloaded into the face of a one of the highwaymen on the left as he reached out to the top handlebar of the coach. The mob died instantly and fell from the saddle, his horse dragging him by the stirrup into the woods.

On the right the highwayman reached out and Adler struck him in the head, ripping his jaw off. The remaining highwayman then leapt onto the coach's roof as Adler recovered from the other highwayman. Adler then swung his hammer at the bandit on the roof. The highwayman blocked with his saber and then lunged at Adler. The witch hunter blocked down with the haft of his hammer. The highwaymen then turned his saber upside down and pulled the blade away from Adler and slashed upwards.

The slash caught the tip of Adler's chin and cut it. Adler leaned back and the mob then slashed at him. He dodged but had lost his balance. To regain it he reached out for the only thing that was stable, the highwayman. It was at that moment that the carriage hit a bump and sent both Adler and the highwayman over the front driver's seat, just barely missing Rusty. Adler landed on the yoke and the highwayman on a horse. The highwayman stabbed at Adler, who crawled forward on the yoke and then onto another horse ahead on the opposite side of the highway men and then started to fight him with his hammer.

While Adler was dealing with his own Highwayman, Rusty was handling his own set of problems. That problem was dealing with driving the wooden construct and trying to survive the attacks from the mobs. Rusty felt a highwayman leap onto the back of the carriage.' I hate to do this.' Rusty thought and then drew the drivers blunderbuss. The highwayman advanced on Rusty and lifted his cutlass to bring it down on the Skavens head. Rusty twisted and fired the blunderbuss and blasted the highwayman off the carriage. His remaining mounted comrades rode around his corpse.' There goes my only shot.' Rusty thought sourly.

The battle on the horses had moved on to the front pair of horses. Now both man and machine were standing on a horse across from each other. They were fighting with hammer and saber in a duel of balance and death. It was an epic scene, until the coach hit a rock and sent both fighters sailing through the air. The Highwayman let out a Wilhelm Scream as he was stampeded over by the horses and then was finished off by the carriage. Adler was sent under the yoke but not the hooves of the horses, he couldn't pull himself up over the yoke so he started to work his way down the yoke, his coat being dragged under him.

The remaining highwaymen got closer and closer to the carriage. When the one closets to the carriage reached out to climb on it a Minotauress charged out from the forest and knocked him and his horse over. The highwayman was finished when Minotauress crushed his skull under her hoof.

The final highwayman managed to jump onto the carriage and made to rush Rusty. The boy had his dagger out, which glowed with warpstone infused enchantments, ready to defend himself from the attacker. That was until two hands reached around the highwayman's neck and there was a swift twisting motion, the highwaymen's neck snapping.

Adler then threw the body off the stage coach and then took his seat next to Rusty." Slow it down for the pretty lady." Adler said to the young man.

Rusty then pulled back on the reins, slowing the horses down to trot, He looked at the dirt and blood covered Adler and said." You look like crap."

"I just climbed under the stage and saved your life and you notice that I'm a little dirty? And people say I have prioties skewed." Adler said and opened his inventory to retrieve a book on a bounty hunter with no name. He then used his music selector to listen to a tune.

At that Rusty rolled his eyes and guided the horses at a slower pace than the rollicking ride only a few moments ago." I could of handled the mob." Rusty told his guardian.

"Oh no doubt about that." Adler murmured as he flicked the page of the book." I just have your back as much as you have mine. Or would you of preferred for me to use the bound scroll?"

Rusty grunted and from behind the carriage the pair could hear the clinking of heavy armor. Adler turned around and said." Howdy honey. Thank ya kindly for that save."

Tatianna waved him off." I was going to meet you at your castle anyway. I just didn't expect you to bring along company. Care to explain that?" She walked alongside the coach, easily keeping up with her near bestial legs.

Adler chuckled." Funny story that. You see there is a quest back in Hergig where we can act as body guards to the carriage and protect it up the road. Well I wasn't going to let a few extra silver go to waste, especially with the vacation just a few hours away. So I took the job and 8 dead mobs later here we are."

Tatianna shook her head and smiled." You are a greedy capitalist pig. Aren't you the richest man in Hochland so why do you need a few more coins?"

" Well my dear communist cow girl I like a little extra spending money in case I need to donate some coins to the pour. Though in this case I will be using the cash to pay for a trio of holsters and…." He then opened his inventory and selected a package, that was long and thin." This little beauty." He handed it to Tatianna.

She dawwed at the sight." Thank you." She opened the package and saw the gold and diamond necklace." Its beautiful." She looked it over before equipping it.

"There is an enchantment for a ward save and magic resistance on it." Adler said with a smile." Course I do have a few other surprises once we get to Stirland for our vacation."

She raised an eyebrow." Lingerie?" She spoke coyly.

Adler chuckled as Rusty cringed." Eeyup." Adler said. Then in his mind he added.' And one ring.'

/

So it was across the Empire that the pieces made their opening moves. It was with these moves that a player decided to make her own moves. Argo the rat had seen where the chess pieces were going to go and made a choice. The Empire was to go in up flames and she was going to observe the spark in the east.

/

Character Index

Adler, Rufus- Former leader of the Golden Wolves, now a Witch-Hunter and owner of Hochland Forest Community College. Rusty's guardian.

Afendivkov, Tatianna - Minotaur beastmen. One of Recks captains and girlfriend of Adler's.

Atkins, Tammy: British steam tanker.

Argo- Skaven player and master spy

Asuna- High Elf warrioress

Chica- Terradon rider and Lizardman, currently on the Titans Hand.

Cooper- Dark elf player, friend of Rufus in the real world.

Delia- Beastmen player and former Averlander. Currently living in Altdorf where she helps run an orphanage. She is the lover of Oak.

Desiree- A dwarf player married to Kurt and is part of the Zhufbar army.

Eckhart, Ericka- Steam Tanker

Essex , R. 'Rusty' - Young Skaven player. Is currently being looked after by Rufus, a very close friend of his mothers.

Euan- Major of the 1stIHA

Eugene- General from Altdorf and brother of Mortimer

Fethoff- Orc warboss and lieutenant of PLA

Gerry- Krutz right hand man and one of the few that is still sane.

Ikari, Michal- Colonel of the 1stIHA

Ivonovich, Katyusha- Steam Tanker

Jack- The leader of the players of in Middenland and Middenheim.

Jackie- Lieutenant Colonel of the 1stIHA

Jawa- Smiths Sectary and a sorcerer of death

Juro- Goblin Assassin

Kiabou- Elector count of Averland, master of the PLA and all around asshole.

Kirk- Treasurer of the PLA

Kirito- Dark Elf player, now mercenary working for the Zhufbar dwarfs

Klein- Former Averlander now in service to Weiss and a knight.

Kurt- A high elf player and mercenary who is married to Desiree

Krutz- Serial killer and chosen of the chaos gods.

Likes Gaming- Corporal of 1stIHA

Lizbeth- Dwarven smith working for Zhufbar

Mortimer- Lector of Sigmar and brother to Eugene.

Oak- Sergeant Major of the 1st Imperial Horse Artillery, lover of Delia

Okimi- Priest of Ulric and former member of the Golden Wolves.

Orai, Kazumi- Steam tanker from Middenheim

Pavlov-Russian teen. Former member of the golden wolves and now a leader in his own right in Kislev.

Petal, Roshi- British Teenager who's brother won WAO in a raffle. She is now a major in Zhufbar's army.

Pully, Sandra- American Steam Tanker

Tavington- General of the PLA

Thordek- Defacto leader of Zhufbar

Sanjay- Dark Elf crossbowmen turned mercenary

Sanjay- Former lawyer turned officer in the IA.

Silica- Former Averlander, now turned beastman sorceress

Smith, Steve- General of the Empire in Altdorf, friend of Rufus in the real world.

Weiss, Bertha- Daughter of Fredrik and a battle wizard of the lore of light

Weiss, Fredrik- Inner Circle Knight Preceptor, leader of Averland Refugees and father of Bertha.

Wittmann, Michele- Tanker from Middenheim

Wizzel- Skaven assassin


	2. Warhammer Appropriate Odd 2

**A/N: See first chapter for disclaimer, see chapter 8 for further disclaimers and no I don't own the History Channel show depicted in this chapter. Alright folks here are a few little stories to lighten the mood. Non canon ones at that, though that doesn't mean they can't be.**

/

 _A Wishful Ending  
June, 2026_

Rufus Adler had driven home from another day of work in Concord. There he worked as a counselor to the survivors of WAO at the North East Reintegration Facility. There were a few reasons why he worked there, not least of which was that his position back at his last work place had been filled while he was in the game. The other reason was that he had taken psyche classes when he went to college and had some understanding of the human mind. The last reason was an old one, he had gone through much of the same trauma.

Since the days of Joshua soldiers who had fought side by side and experienced horrors together gathered in groups to give each other comfort and ease each other's nightmares. These groups were usually from the same towns or provinces for most of history, where these men could gather at the taverns or festivals to relive their experiences with all those who would listen. This continued even into the rise of nation states with the cycle being broken in the 20th century when nations no longer raised province based military units save as militia. In fact the act of warfare was shamed in many countries by the mid-20th century, during America's Vietnam war these soldiers who had been forced to fight were spit on, beaten and discarded because of power players in Vietnam and both sides of the political spectrum in the US. There was no safety net available to these men either, many of their squad mates returning back to their separate parts of the country. They only had their own families who didn't go through what they had gone through, the VA if they were lucky and the VFW.

Since the many wars in the middle-east however an awareness about this effect had gain acceptance and was now known under it's new name of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Those ancient techniques, briefly discarded in favor of medication or little treatment were discarded and group therapy was implemented. Oddly enough the same techniques soldiers had used for centuries had carried over into other trauma groups for rape, AA and accident's after the Vietnam war.

In the wars of WAO, which were as violent and destructive as any in the real world, these survivors needed to have the ability to readjust to their old lives. Some had taken to writing about their life or the lives of their guilds/factions/friends as a way to deal with the stress and adjust to the real world. In addition to many other duties Adler had joined in and was part of an ongoing project to create a live action series based on the events of WAO with the survivors being both the partial funders (with the rest coming from crowd sourcing) and actors in it. There was already an anime based on one survivor's experience, a dark elf kid that he had met by the name of Kirito. Though the live action series was… it was going to be easier to make than many other fantasy creations, if only because the actors fit into their rolls by virtue of saving on stuntmen and prosthetics.

The various governments that WAO survivors where they were from had set up facilities, some like in Japan, the USA, Canada and the UK were well organized to treat the incoming victims PTSD. While the others were second rate at best and little more than mental wards at worst. This was compounded because of the changes to the player's bodies.

The Nerve Gear it appeared could do more than just transport a wearers mind to a new world, it also transformed the players bodies over the years. For the human players of the Empire and Bretonnia that meant greater strength and agility which made their adjustment to their home world fairly easy. The other players from different races not so much.

The elves were the easiest off of the non-human races, all they needed to do was go into surgery and have work done to their ears and they would be considered exceptionally tall humans. The dwarfs were not so lucky, but at the same time they didn't suffer many of the same challenges real dwarfs faced since they were properly proportion and had enhanced strength and toughness, they were just shorten to around four and half to five feet tall. The chaos warriors were a sad bunch, most had undergone some sort of mutation while in game, while these may be minor ones most had major problems with tentacles and their bodies being misshapen. The poor bastards that were turned into spawn were mercy killed when they regained consciousness and realized what form they would take now. While these three groups could eventually integrate in their societies again and in fact could live in the big cities. The last three races were having a much more difficult time.

The Lizardmen, Skaven and Beastmen could never return to their old lives. Their bodies were transformed into the half human forms that they had in WAO and no amount of plastic surgery could change that. In fact they were horrified by what they had become in the initial days, a couple dozen had even committed suicide in those first few days of awakening. Many of these countries offered, through their own WAO facilities, a chance for a new life in the United States and Canada. Since there was plenty of space where they could be hidden away in more remote parts of the country, thus avoiding causing bigger problems if they were in a major city or their home countries. They were spread out for the most part, a few in the town's around the states a couple hundred in a city like Concord.

The lizard men were focused in Florida; this was as close to the jungles of Lustria as they could get without going into South America. They had found lives in the swamps and parks. In fact an enterprising few along with investors were planning on creating an entire lizardman theme park meant to re-create Lustrian-Aztec culture and give them a stable source of income. From the sketches Rufus had seen it looked like there was going to be shows involving lizardmen vs 'conquistadors' (a thinly veiled version of Bretonnians and Empire), a roller coaster styled on a serpents back and highly advanced robotics' for full scaled dinosaurs.

The Skaven and Beastmen were more difficult to integrate into modern society, but still it was possible. Working from home was a major source of employment for these people. They settled up in Northern New England and Upstate New York, where there was still good services while still remote. The Skaven were also finding themselves in a new line of work in law enforcement, their skills at stealth and enhanced scent with drug detection were welcomed at the police departments once they went through the proper courses. The beastmen had also found employment as forest guides and for the American citizen's as trappers, that way they could stay in their forests and be more at home. There was also the popular prank of pretending to be bigfoot to scare unwary hikers and poachers.

For the young though that were trapped in WAO there was a special school set up in Concord, in his state alone, where they would go to finish their education and not be ostracized for their past. It also gave them their own therapy in the class room where they would be kids again and not just something 'special' or given unwanted attention. Rusty was there as well, he was learning to be a kid yet again. It was odd seeing the boy living the life of child after going through and causing so much havoc.

Rufus opened the door to his two story home saying aloud." Heya honey."

He then heard his wife's voice, in her accented English." Welcome back Rufsky." Tatianna waddled out from the kitchen dressed in her loose fitting orange dress. She then leaned down and kissed her husband, one which she traveled half way across the world to be with.

She had left Russia almost as soon as soon as she heard about the option to live a life in America where she could be accepted by the populace and be loved by a true man. They were married before in the game for over a year before they met in real life and within a few days they set up a ceremony where they would get a legal license from a justice of the peace. The ceremony was attended by Rufus's family, Rusty's family and what friends they could scrape up. The ritual was based on the Sigmarite marital rites they had gone though in WAO. Her father was furious about learning of his daughters marriage and threaten to cut her off… but he learned about it only 6 months ago and by that time it was a bit too late for a divorce….

Rufus kissed her back, feeling her belly against his chest. The belly which had a pair of twin minotaur's, a boy and a girl growing within it. She was about 8 months along now with the kids ready to pop in another month. There names would be Irina and John, the latter named after Titanna's father Ivan.

Life would go on.

/

 _Magical World Online  
August 2023_

Asuna Yuuki yawned as she listened to the history class. Her teacher was an American by the name of Rufus Adler and he was giving a speech about the Napoleonic Wars. Some of the boys looked interested but for the most part the class was working through boredom. She looked out of the window at the city outside. The city was a medium size one with room for a quarter million people. It had it's sky scrapers and residential blocks, it's shopping centers and it's work business district. Around the city was 600 square miles kilometers of forest, mountains, small villages, beaches and tourist trap historical sites. Madokaton was a nice prefecture to call a prison.

Ever since Magical World Online launched trapping a quarter million men, women and children in a virtual realm, its inhabitants had adjusted to their prison. The adjustment had come fairly easy in fact once people got over the first few chaotic months. Those months were bad when the gangs tens of thousands strong went to war over shopping centers.

Order was only restored with the creations of three groups. The Guard, a military/police force guild of 2,500 players who were also some of the most disciplined people she had ever seen. The Committee of Vigilance was a group of vigilantes who took the law into their own hands, which given there wasn't any before they came along, were welcomed. They had sheltered a huge swath of people from the roving gangs. Out of the refugees a government was formed to organize the sheltered people.

But what bound these three organizations was a movement that had frighten many players in the beginning. The movement was called the Griffons and they were fascists who were focused on bringing order to the city. The movement was truthful in it's intentions and what it was, which may of turned many of it's members away had they not given the example that they kept order in their areas. The Griffon's grew rapidly and were self-policed by commissars who kept their dogs leashed when needed.

It was under the Griffon's banner that the city was tamed. Yes there was still organized crime, but it was not as overt and it was kept low key. Otherwise the hammer would come down hard on the gangs. It was an equilibrium that kept the peace. Without the Griffon's instead of there being 200,000 surviving players there would be far fewer people.

Asuna heard a ring of a bell in her ear and sat straight up. She had received a call to action. That was an alert that there was a Deamon near the school and an opportunity for her to grind her level. She shot her hand up and asked." Heer Professor Adler."

Adler turned around and blinked." Why yes Miss Yuuki, is there a question about the Battle of the Nations you would like to ask?"

"No, may I please be excused to use the bathroom?" Asuna asked. At that Adler waved her off, a silent go ahead before he went back to giving his lecture.

Asuna stood and walked at a fast pace out of the school room transforming in the hall way. In shower of light her school uniform was replaced by a white and red frilly mini skirt and corset/shirt combination. In her right hand was a silver rapier like wand.

Asuna was one of four races of magically infused people. Her race were called the Mahou Shoujo and were one of the most popular kinds of races that a player could choose when MWO started last year. Of course in the beginning it was assumed that 95% percent of the actual players of this race were female, but then it was revealed it was only 40 percent after the mirror inventory item was added.

After her race the Furkin were the second most popular choice and had a gender ratio of about fifty-fifty. This race had animal like traits such as tails and ears along with the elemental powers of wind, air, fire and water. They relied on physical attacks with their elements. They constantly had those traits on display and could not turn them off like the Mahou Shoujo and Sentai.

Then there were the Tulath De Duanna, this race comprised of mostly girls and was the third most popular choice. These players much like the Furkin had traits they could not make disappear. Luckily the pointed ears were the only attributes that were permanate while their wings, which were color coded to their refined magical element, disappeared when in active. While the Furkin relied on the physical aspect of their elements in combat the Tulath De Duanna had refined the elements into more advance forms of magic.

Then finally there was the smallest group of players and the one with the largest male population, the Sentai. While they did lack in magic, they made up with it in science and power armor. The sentai worked best as a group, each member playing a role that increased their combat, defensive and supporting capabilities tenfold. It was especially impressive to see their giant robots march to war.

The enemies that the four races faced were called Deamons, monsters and mobs who threaten the city of Madokaton. Their master Mala was the greatest boss that threaten the prefecture and if he could be defeated then then all of the players would be able to escape the game. Of course there was another way to escape, to join Mala's ranks as a Witch and defeat all the remaining players. To become which a player had to murder 10 players out of battle or a sacrifice to the Deamon Lord Mala. After that they could serve undivided or as a follower to one of his four aspects. Luckily they were few in number especially after the Griffon's came to power where the open Witches were hunted down forcing them to go underground in their covens. There was a large bounty for the capture or death of any witch.

Asuna wasn't concerned about witches, the other races or getting home at the moment. Her mind was instead on hunting down a demon and getting to level 50.

/

 _Thank God the Game Wasn't Totally Realistic_

 _December 2023, Nuln_

Tatianna Adler had a large baby bump poking over her pants as she walked the shopping district, a pair of bags under her arms. The father of her child, Rufus, was currently working at the moment and couldn't be with his wife as she did Christmas shopping. As she walked along she saw dozens of other couples with their infants and other expecting future children.

It came as a shock to hundreds if not thousands of men and women that there was a feature in the game that women could get pregnant, which became apparent after the signs of which started to appear. Most couples stuck together during this time but many were one night stands, rapes or passing acquaintances. That was a feature not publicized much when the game was being promoted as a war game, while in fact it was closer to life simulator. Apparently it was a way to keep players invested in the game via parenthood.

There was potions which could medigate and remove the child but there was also a 'pregnancy xp bonus' as well. That granted an XP bonus for actions taken while being pregnant, there was a debuff on dexterity and attack speed, then there was archery as well. But at nearly double the rate of normal XP gain many women had decided to keep their unborn young. When they were born the mothers could then decide to put the children in orphanages or keep them as their own.

While walking Tatianna spotted a familiar face and waved to her. Argo waved back and walked up to Tatianna, two of her children in a carriage and another on her back. The father of her children and Tatianna's was the same man." Well long time no see Tati." Argo said as her half Skaven young squirmed against her.

Tatianna nodded and said." Ever since the siege." She then smiled at a memory from a few months ago. It was at the siege that she found out she was expecting when she realized her xp gain was higher than usual. After the battle she had married Adler right off and now they were happy together.

Tatianna scratched the back of her head and said." Uh I hope there are no hard feelings since I married Adler?" To Tati's relief Argo shook her head.

Argo then said." No what we did last year was nothing more than a one night stand. We did have a hell of talk on the PM when we found out though and there have been rough patches especially when at the time that these three were born. But I've never been jealous of him or you." She then chuckled." I had a good laugh really when he was automatically billed for alimony." Then she paused." That was part of the reason why the PLA lost the siege to. Their leadership had so much money and slept with so many digital whores that when the kids were born they lost thousands of gold pieces when the payments started to pile up."

Now it was Tatianna's turn to chuckle, but this time nervously." It wasn't the PLA leaders who also lost a lot of gold from alimony either Argo…."

 _Hergig, outside of the city walls_.

Rufus Adler breathed into his hands to keep them warm. He was walking up and down the road outside of the city looking for work. On his chest and back was a broadside board which read." Will Witch Hunt for Gold. Need money for alimony payments."

While he walked the witch hunter thought.' Five hundred bastards and five thousand gold a month… goddamn it if I'd know I wouldn't of gone to all those whore houses!'

/

 _History Channel Meets WAO 1_

Imperial Pickers

Mike Wolfengard and Frank Fitzgerald rolled their cart into the courtyard of the Slyvanian castle. Mike was a Witch Hunter of Altdorf and Frank was an Engineer of Nuln. They left the cart and walked to the door of the castle. Mike knocked on the door and the pair waited for a reply, Frank pulled a piece of paper from his inventory while they waited.

The door creaked open and an old man, with a long hooked nose, elongated fingers and slit pulpil eyes appeared before the two travelers." Good Evening I am Count Orlock how may I be of service?" He spoke in a dusty voice.

Mike smiled and tipped his hat." Hi I'm Mike and this is my friend Frank. Were Pickers and were wondering if you had some old stuff you were thinking of getting rid of, like that hearse out front?" He then pointed to the stables where an old nearly broken down black coach sat covered in dust and mold.

Frank then handed the paper to the count." These are the sort of things were looking for." The paper then listed off many of the items that the two would be interested in. From old furniture to signs to even weaponry.

Orlock cracked a wide smile, his teeth razor sharp." Ah yes I do… please come inside." He stepped out of the way for the two travelers to come inside his castle.

Mike looked around the Gothic architecture and said Orlock." Wow look at this place. It's looks really cool. You made all of this?"

Orlock was pleasantly surprised by the question and spoke." Yes I've collected this all over the years from all over the empire. Trophy's and souvenirs from over the Old World I've earned."

Frank then said to Orlock." Oh when did you start collecting?" He looked at him, looking out for certain bottles. On the table were.

Orlock thought." Ah yes that was when I was a young nobleman, I could half remember the days of when I had my friends… fighting and looking for treasure. Then I took an arrow to the knee and became more of a scholar."

Mike said." Oh I Know how that is when I slipped a disk and had to run the shop." He then pointed to the a pair of crossed swords on the wall, One was an orcish blade and the other was a chaos blade that whispered demonic words." Those look cool, what is the story behind them?"

The count gave a broad smile." Those I earned in fighting. The orc I slayed while adventuring with my friends and the chaos blade I found on my own when I was looking for a particular book." It… warmed his heart talking about those weapons and the memories behind them. Which was odd since it had long since turned to dust.

Mike nodded." I see so I'm not going to give an offer for it. But what about that book you were talking about? Can we see it?"

Orlock was taken aback but he felt welcoming to the visitors and said." Of course you may." He then lead the dou into his dungeon.

"Hold up." Frank said and stopped Orlock from walking any further.

The old count was wide eyed." Why shouldn't I?"

"Watch this." Frank then shot the floor where the count was about to step. It hit a pressure plate that caused a gigantic axe to fall down right infront of him.

The count blinked." I forgot about that trap… thank you two." As he spoke he thought to himself.' No… I don't think I'll devour them.'

Frank tipped his cap." Hey your welcome. I'll just lead the way for now on." He reloaded his pistol and then continued down the dungeon, leading the way to avoid the traps. The count then lead them to a bared gate and a dusty book on a pedestal. Orlock opened the gate and they walked in.

Mike then looked at the book and after a moment he started to speak." Oh cool man it's a black book of Arkan. Is it alright if I pick it up?" Orlock nodded and motioned with his bony hands for him to do so. Mike then picked it up and said after looking through it." Hmm… it's a copy, but it is made of real human skin so that's bonus." He looked at Orlock and said." How about 500 gold for it? "

Orlock thought about it and asked." I spent a long time and a lot of effort in finding that book. At least a thousand gold."

Mike then countered." Dude when was the last time you read this book? It's covered in like a quarter inch of dust. Plus it's a copy. How about 650?"

Orlock shook his head." No I can't go that low, 750 gold."

Frank then stepped forward." How about we bundle instead? Remember that hearse? Well how about we make a deal of 650 for the book and an additional 150 gold for the hearse? That's 800 gold right there."

Orlock was intrigued by the offer and thought.' I like these two… they have been nice to me and made me feel welcomed by their presence.' He then spoke and said." Very well I'll take your offer."

Frank extended his hand and Orlock shook it." Hey thanks, I'm glad we could come to a deal." Mike then shook his hand as well.

Half an hour later Mike and Frank were riding away with their cart and the black coach. Their cart filled with other items bought from the count. The count stood on the door step of his castle and waved good bye to them after they were out of sight. 'They were so nice to an old vampire like me. Maybe I shoul-' His line of thought ended when a silver bullet hit him in his brain pan.

There was a witch hunter with a smoking pistol in his hand. Which he holstered. He had been waiting in ambush for the count to make a mistake. Which as it turned out was to stand outside of his castle and not looking to the side." Now then lets see what sort of loot do we have here." He said to himself and started to loot the vampire's corpse.

/

 _Behind the Scenes Naming Conventions_

One day Rusty came up to Adler while off the set of WAO and asked." So I have a question." He said while looking up at the older man.

Adler looked at the boy, he was drinking an orange soda and was wearing a red sox baseball cap instead of his witch hunters broad brimmed hat, the rest though he was in costume." Shoot kiddo." He said to Rusty.

Rusty then asked." So I've been thinking, but why is it that the author of this fic reuses some words and names? I find it confusing at times to follow along if he's talking about a place or a certain person. I want to know why though."

Adler thought about it then cracked a smile. "Well that's simple he's a TV tropes user and knows about 'The One Steve Limit'." Stephan, de-facto leader of Altdorf was walking by in half plate armor and running shoes.

He looked at the pair and said." Are you talking about me?"

Adler shook his head." Sorry Steve not yet. Though how's that battle of the Wasteland coming along?"

Steve gave a thumbs up." I'm going over the chorography with the rest of the team, I think using a bolter while riding a mechanical horse might be too much for me to handle though." He then looked at the time." Well gotta get back to the set." He then ran off.

Adler then turned back to Rusty." Any way the One Steve Limit is a trope used in a lot of media. You see lot's of authors use creative names for their characters, but at the same time it seems un realistic that with a large cast you don't have a repeat of certain names, since in any given real life setting you're most likely going to have a repeat of names. So by not having just one Steve you show that you have somewhat of an understanding that the real world things are not as simply cut like that in a book. Like with Gerry the Chaos Warrior and Gerald the Imperial Emissary. Totally different people but at the same time it shows that people with the same name are not especially the same person. I think Brook's set the record with having an entire town with the surname Johnson."

He paused in thought after a reflection." Of course it could back fire horribly as well. Especially when you repeat names in a certain race, since allegations of racism could be used against the author with the two Sanjay's being an example. It could also be said he has a lack of names for other cultures or even a lack of creativity. A way he could avoid this is to give nick names. So like if you had someone named Pippin and he had a son named Pippin, the elder would be Big Pip and the younger after a character such as hair color or his size like Little Pip... no offense to the Fallout Equestria crew of course."

Rusty then said." I see but where does that leave something like Hard Oak and the artillerist Oak?"

Adler had to think a little more." Ah yes. Well how this work is that with Oak it was chosen as a shout out to S.M. Stirling's Emberverse since the author knows there's a character who took the name and had the original name that was his own. With Hard Oak though the Author tried to translate it into German to make it sound a little cooler for the Empire but when he tried it he didn't get what he wanted."

Rusty tilted his head to the side." Why is that?"

Adler chuckled." That's because when translated in separate words Hard Oak spells Fest Eiche, not so imposing now is it, though it sounds like something a Nurgle Fortress would be named. But the second way to spell it is even worse, once he put the two words together as Hardoak, he got Hardon."

 _Shipping Services Provided by… 2_

The dwarven girls giggled as they entered the hot spring. All of them were from different parts of the world and of different races. There was Desiree, the red head and most developed of the girls as well as the eldest in her mid-twenties. Then there was Roshi, who was dark skinned and somewhat lighter topped then the other girls, but made up for it by her exotic eyes and dark skinned body. Finally there was Lizbeth who was the youngest of the group and somewhere between well-developed like Desiree and having the beauty of an easterner.

The girls stripped of their towels and entered the pool that served as the hot springs. They groaned in relaxation as they sunk their curvaceous dwarven bodies into the water." Ah yeah, this feels so good after a day of hard battle." Said Desiree.

Lizbeth added, as she sunk down to her chin." And not a single boy around asking if 'we can work his bellows'. Tis a glorious day."

Roshi then waved her hair forward, strands covering her breasts. She ran her hands through her long black hair and said." Yes. I hav't felt this good in years. Just me and my friends all alone, free to relax."

That was when a tentacle chaos spawn then broke down the wall to the hot springs and its tendrils shot out at the girls an-

And then Adler got conked on the back of his head by his bride Tatianna." And what are you doing with that?" She then ripped the book from his hands. The title being 'Forge of Love' and featured three manga styled drawings of Roshi, Desiree and Lizbeth in panties in a forge with Desiree's tits on the anvil, Roshi with his legs open sharpening a blade and Lizbeth bent over a forge.

Adler chuckled." Uh… I can explain… you see this company is making these doujinshi's based off of some famous people in the game… like me, Jack and others and pairing them up. I went to go shut them down but… well lets just say I found a new... way to enjoy the game."

Tatianna then looked athim hard and spoke." Very well, we will go together to this company and we will have a long talk about using people without their permission." She then grabbed him by his collar and dragged him away, book in hand.


	3. The Calm

**A/N: See first chapter for disclaimer. Woot we now have a combined total of over 100 reveiws for the WAO series. I wish I had something planned out special for the occasion… well I do have some news that there will be a new chapter after the next one, which is going to be brand new content! Still no TV tropes page though dammit!**

 **Also how did you folks like the last omake chapter?**

 **Reply to Reveiwers-**

 **Edward95: Thank you kindly I've been working hard at this story for a few years now so a compliment is welcomed.**

/

 _Nuln, Morning of September 8_ _th_ _2023_

The carriage finally came to a stop outside of Handlehofs Stable and Livery on the North side of city. After staying at an inn a few dozen miles up the road Delia finally arrived in the city of Nuln. The officer Sanjay opened a door and the dwarf did a moment later as well. They exited and a moment later Delia joined them, her paws hitting the cobblestone pavement and a staw bonnet on her head.

"Goodbye gentlemen it was a pleasure to keep your company." Delia said to the men with a smile.

Sanjay said." The pleasure was ours. Have a good day miss."

Delia nodded and spoke one last time." As I hope you do." She then turned and opened up her menu. She then used the 'find friend' button to look for Oak. From her body a blue wave emitted that she could only see.

She could see the wave go through the buildings of Nuln and at over seven hundred yards she saw the red outline of Oak. He was sitting down, though where she couldn't tell. She opened her map and looked at the area where he would be. The location as it turned out was at a tavern.

' Not surprised.' Delia thought, the last time they were together it was at a tavern… after a few days of staying there. Taverns were also the main eteries and places of residences for players who didn't have the coin for a better place to eat or sleep.

She then started to make her way down to the tavern along the commercial way, taking in the sights of Nuln. The last time she was here was just before new year's and the city was just recovering from the rebellion that had took place. The buildings were fully repaired though there was still the black soot from the forges going strong as the day she left with the kid's to Altdorf. Though it was nice to see the more notable squares, palaces and monuments in the late summer day over the winter days she was here.

As Delia walked down the street she saw a groups of soldiers, companies of them at least pass through the streets. Some were led by uniformed troops in the black of Nuln, others by the various other classes belonging to the Empire. In addition to the human troops there were specs of the different races such as dwarfs, elves and her own beastmen. They outnumbered the traders and other classes by a large margin. There was going to be a fight with PLA soon, after so long since the rebellion it was only a matter of time till it came to new blows and a final battle to determine who was to be in control of the Empire.

That was her reason for being here, just to be able to visit her lover at least one more time before the fight started. Plus some bed breaking sex was welcomed. So she made her way down the tavern, her tail swishing behind her and a certain spring in her step.

/

 _The Gunner's Arms Tavern- Nuln_

Oak was sitting at a table with his fellow NCO Likes Gaming with a mostly eaten breakfast between them with their caps to the side. Oak had the remains of bacon, eggs and the crumbs of bread along with some cider, while Likes Gaming on the other hand had a several sausages and broughtwurst. Apparently there was an event happening with the brass so the Army of Nuln, which was garrisoned in the city itself, was given a day of leave before the weekend. Yet they were still ready to be called back into the action at a moment's notice if need be.

Right now the two were finishing their dinner and Oak was sharing one of his stories." Now we come to the 10th time I dodged death in the real world." Likes Gaming groaned in frustration.

"Really? How more times have you survived when you shouldn't?" The youngster asked, having heard 9 other stories where Oak should of died.

The Sergeant spoke." 27 different occasions and 10 of them in this world." He then continued on with his tale." Now this time I was in Florida on vacation. Me and my family were at a Wally World getting some supplies, when suddenly we had this wind start blowing pretty hard outside of the store. My dad went outside and came right back in with a 'nope'. He saw that the sky was near black with storm clouds and the wind was powerful enough to knock down a woman outside and crack her skull open.

So he had me, mom and him huddle down as the shingles started to rumble and be pulled off. It out there was a tornado that had touched down not too far from where the store was. So we were hearing this freight train of a tornado get closer and closer and then… pause for dramatic effect." Like's Gaming then punched him in the shoulder for stopping from across the table.

Oak chuckled." I deserve that one. Any way that Tornado came close and nearly took the store down but it did so I narrowly avoided death yet again."

Like's Gaming leaned back on the bench and said." Your stories are so boring dude. They always end with you living."

Oak smiled." Rest assured there will be one with a different ending eventually Like's, same you'll have one. Till then I'll be telling my stories until I'm dead."

Suddenly he gained a new hat, a large pair of cloth covered breasts to be exact." I hope to be listening to them for a long time to come as well love." Delia said as rested her arms around his shoulders with her hands on Oaks chest.

Oak, who in if was alone with just Delia would of done something just as embarrassing and took Delia there and then, instead played it cool." Well judging by the size, softness and the furriness of these tits I believe that I found a fine example of a beastwoman on the top of my head." He then turned in the bench and with one motion of his arm cradled her against him in his lap and side." Hello my baby!" He kissed her hard on the lips.

She returned the kiss and after a while, in which time Like's Gaming proceeded to go 'blah' sticking his tongue out in disgust at seeing his fellow NCO act that way, the Sergeant and Beastwoman broke the kiss." I missed you darling." Delia said.

Oak said while looking into her eyes." I missed you as well. I didn't know when you were coming today, if you did I would have had a few 'surprises' for you."

Delia giggled and spoke." I wanted to surprise when I did meet you darling. Anyway I was hoping you might give me a tour of this establishment. Of particular note I wish to know the thread count of your bed sheets. Anything else can wait till tomorrow. "

Oak smirked and said." Like's. Get a room on the opposite side of the tavern for your own sake." Oak then picked Delia up bridal style and ran her up stairs.

Likes Gaming then said under his breath." I'm going to get another tavern if those two are here." He then proceeded to get the last of Oak's food on his plate.

/

 _Nuln- City Garrison_

Thinker was a hard worker and a generally happy man. Before he became part of this world he worked hard on his game review site to deliver content of a high quality to his viewers. He would balance game time, reviewing and writing his shows to the best of his ability every two weeks. He tried to keep a positive attitude through the entire process even when criticizing work. He was a hard worker and generally happy man, right now he was not the later.

The current attention of his ire was an officer of Nuln. He did not personally know Sanjay but he did know his masters in Altdorf and he had a certain disdain for them. It was their bearing towards Nuln and how he perceived them of trying to rule the city from afar, a realm that he considered his own. He ruled the city, he built it's army and he did not want to be ruled over any one else. He survived the days of PLA occupation and did not seek the same thing to happen under his watch. With the representation of that possibility before him, he was notably peeved.

So he, with his commanders and aid de camps met the single officer in the war room. They gathered around a large round model of the city and the nearby surrounding areas. At the north end of the table sat Thinker on a high backed chair. He wore the black uniform of Nuln same as most of his officers and Yullier. To Thinkers left though was the only one of his officers who didn't wear the black, he instead wore a green jacket with silver buttons and a pair of dark grey trousers. His hair was black and short cropped with brown eyes. He had average looks, height and could blend anywhere from San Diego to the steppe. But every man who was at the liberation of Nuln could recognize General Sharpe.

Sanjay was on the southern end of the table on the smaller chair, which was closer to a stool than an actual chair. He was supposed to be intimidated, but didn't show any discomfort or sweated any. He had been in court cases coaching his clients on how to act and understood the mechanics of how a trail would take place. So he took on an air of confidence and kept his expression neutral with a side of cockiness.

Thinker spoke first." So what do the Altdorfian generals have to show us that they needed you in person to come here instead of over private messaging?" He set a pair of steeple hands in front of him as he awaited the reply.

Sanjay opened his menu as he spoke." I take it that you know that the Averlander's are close to going onto the far end of the Karma meter." He then took out several files and stood.

As Sanjay walked around the table leaving a file in front of each commander, Thinker spoke." Of course we know and are preparing for it. The defenses we have prepared are impenetrable to anything the PLA can throw at us." Thinker picked up the file and opened it.

Sanjay took his seat and spoke." That may be true. General Smith though, with General Eugene and Lector Mortimer, want the Averlanders to be on the defensive. Each of those files contain plans for an offensive into Averland before the PLA could launch their invasion of Nuln." Plans that were formulated over the pass day and then sent to Sanjay who copy and pasted them onto paper work then made them into files. If it was sent directly via PM the day before it would have been fractured and not of been proof read. If Thinker was the only one who would receive the plans then he could keep it from his generals and shut it down before they could be finalized. Now that it was brought before the commanders of Nuln though Thinker could be influenced.

It was a smart move on the Altdorfian Generals part and one that Thinker could realize was against his plans. Thinker then spoke as he flicked through the paper work." And how do you propose that we defend Nuln from the Averlanders if we launch an invasion?"

Sharpe spoke." Its on page 3. General Eugene will move his army to support the defenses of Nuln… he also wants my corps to be the one to invade Averland." He looked at Thinker." My corps are the most mobile and I did operations in Averland last year." He looked at the plans again." The plan is calling for an expedition in force not an invasion." He paused in thought." It's something I'm willing to do and it makes sense."

Thinker raised an eyebrow." Why does it make sense to weaken our defensives and leave Nuln to be defended by a bunch of Northerners who never saw our earthworks? Let alone even trained on them." Thinker asked.

" When you are defending you just need to hold a location until you cannot. It doesn't take much skill to load and shoot a musket, or even a cannon into a charging horde." This time it was General Horn, who was in charge of the overall defense of the city and Sharpe's superior by virtue of his position as the cities defender." That being said our men know the land around the city extremely well, they have their cannons, guns, crossbows and anything else that can shoot ranged on Britenfield."

Sharpe then said." The way that the plan has it I would go into Averland, raise hell, pull back to a defensive position then let the PLA come and get blasted. Then I fall back and repeat to the walls of Nuln. It's a static defense and I like it since it would force the PLA to commit more soldiers when they do come to Nuln rather than in waves."

" Waves we can beat back, but a tsunami of men?" Thinker compared the two kinds of attacks.

" I view it more as an abundance of targets than being outnumbered." Sharpe gave the one liner before continuing with a more serious attitude." With more men attacking the city directly we would not give up the front lines as easily as in waves. If we have to leave the defensives it would be at a heavier cost to the enemy than to us."

Horn coughed and spoke." That is correct in theory but until it is done in the real world." He looked around after realizing his words and quickly added." In a manner of speaking of course." He then stretched his legs out and crossed his arms." I cannot see a disadvantage that would outweigh the advantages of doing this expedition."

Sharpe added." I'm all for it as well. I want to force the PLA to fight on our terms like we did last year."

The other commanders, at seeing the two generals agree to the plan felt pressure and agreed as well. Till there was just Thinker left. He looked uncomfortable to say the least, but he could feel the pressure from his commanders. He broke last and said to Sanjay." Fine. Tell your commanders that your plan is approved." Then to Sharpe." You are free to launch the expedition. When will your men be ready to do so?"

Sharpe had an amused expression on his face." Tomorrow morning the Brunswick Corps will march on Averland."

/

 _Altdorf- Tankers Barracks_

"Wait so you can actually power slide with a tank?" Kazumi asked with some unbelieving in her voice.

To that Sandy said." Hell yeah. The physics in this game are messed up. Like if you take a cannon ball to the wheel of your tank you lost a wheel, if you're on a steep slope and you're at an angle and you can't go up any higher, you'll slide down the hill. You can somewhat control it at that point. But it's most effective in an ambush, after all no one expects a freaking steam tank to show up in the middle of the road."

"They also don't expect the Spanish inquisition either." Tammy said at the table." So you might want to have a few witch hunters with you just to make the joke work." She flashed a quick smile then went back to her bacon and eggs. The other girls around the breakfast table were a mix of smiles and palms in faces at the poor joke.

Michele asked." Can you show me that trick in the future? I don't want to try it out in the field without at least knowing the angle I need."

The little Russian pistol then spoke, at the same time tearing a piece of meat off the bone of some beasts leg." I'll run you through it today." Katushya swallowed the meat and added." I'm sure Sandy and Tammy have to run a few things over with your commander. Maybe we can run over a few mobs in our tanks." She continued to devour the leg.

Kazumi looked at Sandy." Is that true?" She asked her.

To which Sandy nodded." Eeyup. You may have some experience with running the tank by itself, but me and Tammy are going to run you through how to operate your tank in a squadron."

Tammy spoke again." We've been running drills with two tanks so far this past month, with the inclusion of Ulric's Fist though we can try some more complicated maneuvers. Such as wedge formation, moving in a column and moving out of a column."

"Um." Kazumi thought before saying." How are we going to do that if our tank drivers are going to be on their own?"

Sandy pointed off to a small non-descript building with the title 'Hobby Bunker' written above the door way." We have models of the tanks, armies and rules to go along with them. Apparently you can buy metal miniatures of Warhammer models here in this world." She gave a chuckle." It was an Easter egg that's proving popular enough there are some gaming groups cropping up."

Ericka perked up." I'm part of that as well. When I'm not on duty I usually game or paint mini's for the barracks here."

Kazumi and Michelle were both taken aback by this. Michelle spoke first and asked." Why do you play a game when your already in one? It seems redundant."

Ericka answered with." Well I'm not really playing a game. A game is when I can have fun and not worry about dying. Since that isn't the case with… well our current circumstances I and a lot of other people are now table top gamers. Especially since a lot of them were so before they put on the Nerve Gear." She then had a smile and a blush." Not to mention I'm popular with the boy's since there aren't that many girls in the gaming clubs. The Gun Bunny Gamer is my tag in Altdorf."

Kazumi nodded in understanding and added in the back of her head to investigate how easy it would be to become a gamer in that case. At the same time she was wondering about the nick name her company had gotten." Why are we called The Gun Bunnies? It sounds like something a otaku would come up with. "

Sandy laughed aloud." Your half right. You see when I unlocked Fury I decided to add my own touch to it and have someone paint a pink, knifed and pistol armed rabbit on the side of the turret as my own mark. One of the engineers noticed it and called out 'Look's like the Gun Bunny's got a new ride!' Apparently it's also old slang for a girl who is armed to the teeth with guns and hops around the battlefield."

Not to be outdone Katuysha added." As soon as I saw that bunny I put a Hello Kitty on the turret of the Lion's Roar."

"Without my knowledge I might add." Tammy added looking at her driver with a hint of annoyance.

" Didn't need to either. It looked so good no one said they didn't love it. Except for you mentioning something about vandalism." Katushya laughed and finished her leg of meat.

The group then could hear the sound of pumps going and a low hum approach the barracks. Sandy stood and said." About time." She then walked out the door, the other girls following soon after.

They could see a machine making it's way through the complex to the tank's garage. The machine looked for the most part like an uncovered wagon, but the difference was that in place of a team of draft animals there was a steam like engine, which blew green steam, with wheels below it. A solitary skaven in a brown robe guided it and then came to a stop in front of the garage. Sandy walked up to it and said to the driver." Are all four sets in the back?"

He nodded." Yeah, fresh from Skavenblight." He produced a clipboard, with a ink well built in and a quill." Just sign on the dotted line and their all yours."

Sandy took the clipboard and signed the paper work. The skaven then handed her a receipt and hopped off the drivers bench." I will need help unloading all the set's ladies." He said to them.

Sandy then waved over the rest of the small company." You heard him. Start unloading them and set them by the garage door."

Katuysha asked a hint of trepidation in her voice since she was the smallest." Whats in there?" She looked at the crates.

" New tools for communication. Trust me when I say it's better than getting hit in the shoulders." Sandy spoke and went to work.

/

 _The Lower Reik_

Hiding a brig was easier than many would of thought on the Reik. The problem many people saw was that the ship was large and had sails. But in the many inlets a matter of disguise was easier to accomplish. The Titans Hand was backed up into the inlet and with its masts covered in branches from the trees on either side of the main river. From the sides the Titans Hand looked like trees from a distance. But if a ship was to pass by directly in front of the vessel or a scout got to close they could see that the ship was disguised as such. Given that the crew would be looking for scouts and other ships though, the Titans Hand would be better ready to counter or ambush it's wanna be discoverers.

Given the relative safety the passengers and crew could be more relaxed. Though with some of the passengers, maybe not so much. Chica was done flying for the day but Phillip was returning from a scouting mission. He rode back onto the ship via gang plank. He was unhormed as was his horse and instead wore a simpler grey tunic and black pair of pants to blend into the surroundings.

Duke Phillip was in his mid-twenties and a Canadian, with brown wavy hair and eyes. He was fit and had dashing looks. Looks that Rosalina did enjoy to look at, but so far did not trust. After all she her self-used her own body more than once to trap a few players. Then there was the professional barrier, but with the right tweaks she could work around it….

She shook her head and then walked down from the top deck towards him." I hope the scouting mission went well and that you didn't draw any patrols our way?" She asked him.

He looked at her and dismounted his pale horse while speaking." I dodged them and yes it was a success. The ground is hard and dry for about ten miles to the south, with hardly any hills, perfect for a cavalry charge."

"Well good for you. Though you said you did actually dodge a patrol?" Rosalina asked.

Philip crossed his arms behind his back as he said." I did, but it was a single player pistolier troop. Middenheimer by his blue and white clothes. I would think it's expected since we are getting closer to Middenheim and Altdorf. I wouldn't be surprised if we encounter larger patrols soon."

Rosalina thought.' To be found out this early? That's never a good thing. We had better take some pre-cautions.' She then said to Philip. "I'll talk to Chica about limiting her own flights." Then she pointed at him and said." You as well, I want you to patrol only during the night. I do not want your king set his pet Woodies on me if I lose a duke on my watch." To which she added mentally.' As if we actually die in the game.'

Philip was in thought at her words. He understood the logic behind them and it made sense. He spoke to her." Granted. But may I offer a suggestion?"

Rosalina decided to humor him." Yes go on." She spoke.

He coughed and pointed to the south." I want you to move to the south and pick me up in the morning up the river. That way I will be able to cover more ground and you get brand new intelligence on what to expect from up the river."

Rosalina agreed immediately and nodded." Just keep to the river banks and I'll make sure to pick you up." The smell of meat being cook filled her nose from below." Come on. It's lunch time, the boys shot a deer earlier."

To that Philip showed some interest." Finally, I've been getting tired of fish." He walked towards the galley and Rosalina followed after him.

" And what's wrong with fish?" Rosalina asked, trying to start up a conversation with him.

Philip took his seat at a table set up in the hold of the ship." It texture is all wrong as is the taste. Though I will eat it when I have to… but I really don't care much for it." He snorted." Most of my family doesn't care much for it since were ranchers. We don't get out to the coast that often either to try out 'real' sea food. The last person in my family to spend some real time out by the ocean was my great granny… and possibly my great granddad."

Rosalina was intrigued." Why do you say 'possibly' your great grandfather? I would think you would know that." She took a seat across from him.

He gave a short chuckle." I wish. My great granny said that my great granddaddy was Errol Flynn to the day she died. She even said I looked like him. Which does explain the good looks." He stroked his chin to emphasize his dashing smile.

Rosalina asked, confusion in her voice." Who's Arrow Fin?"

Philip laughed and said." Errol Flynn. He was a big name actor from the early 20th century who played at being Robin Hood, Pirates and few other roles. Apparently granny decided to go with a roll with him when she was an extra and as she explained that's how grand dad was made."

More of the crew took their seats and the venison was being served." Eh enough about grandma's conquests. Lets eat."

/

 _Darkwald_

Beastmen were surprisingly loud when they were not trying to be stealthy. They brayed, stomped and smelled to no end when marching when they knew they were safe. The giants that marched along the columns of troops belonging to their masters were the worst offenders. In the darkwald, where they were born, they felt the safest in the womb of the forest.

Of course safety in the warhammer old world was not a given. Especially when below the earth there ran tunnels thousands of miles long and crisscrossed the continents. Add in to that the saying 'you are never no more than three feet from a rat' and there truly wasn't a safe place in the world.

The Beastmen were of course aligned against the PLA, they had been since near the start of the game. Because they were an enemy they had to be neutralized and killed before they could pose any threat to the PPA's northern flank. So it was that the skaven assassins planned their ambush for the twenty players and their nearly two thousand beastmen.

It was odd that a skaven would face an enemy while being out numbered over two to one. But given that the team of hit men were near professional in their ability to stay alive, which was a quality that was of vital importance that few didn't possess after close to a year in a warzone. So it was that the trap was sprung on.

Wizzel was the one to spring the trap on the beastmen. He and his skaven jezzails created the initial dis-order and opened fire from the beastmens left. While his own shot was aimed at and his a player in the chest, a beast lord and most likely a leader of this column of beastmen, his other skaven were not so accurate. They instead fired into regiments and at their leaders.

The beastmen re-acted in initial fear and confusion. They saw the green smoke of the jezzails and some advanced and others pulled back away from the smoke. With the giants turned towards the green smoke the second phase of the ambush occurred. A Skaven warp-lock engineer used his 3d-manuver gear and flew past a giant's neck. Its warp infused sword sliced into the base of the giant's neck, cutting through bone and spine. The giant began to fall and crush more of the warherd, the warp lock engineer flying away. At the same time clan rat musicians played out an instrumental version of Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen

The third phase dealt with the beastmen who had pulled back some ways instead of advancing. They found themselves on the wrong end of half a dozen warp flame throwers. A couple hundred more beastmen and a handful of players were burnt by the evil flames.

Phase four had skaven clan rats charge out to meet the advancing warherd. They were horrible fighters and no match one to one with the beastmen, but there were hundreds of them and were armed with spears, so if only for a few moments they could hold them. As the confusion of melee reigned a pair of esshin players moved in the ranks to find players.

The skaven further down the road, seeing that combat was holding the beastmen still moved their warmachines into position. As another giant was cut down after squishing some rats under toe via the 3d maneuver gear, phase five of the plan was carried out via cross fire. Ratling guns raked the ranks of the beastmen attacking the flame throwers and then turning their attention to the mass melee, hitting some clan rats but mostly beastmen.

Phase six was when the breaking of the units began for the beastmen. This was when Poisoned Wind Globadeirs unleashed their deadly globes into the mixed ranks of skavens and beastmen. The gas became to much and the NPC's, whith their sensitive noses were recoiled and began to fall back. Some of the players did so but those that kept on fighting soon found a rapid fire of Wizzel coming their way. He accomplished this by moving from Jezzail team to jezzails team to fire aimed shots at the players with the reloaded rifles.

Finally the beastmen broke and started to run from the sudden ambush back the way they came.

The 3-d maneuver gear equipped player turned his attention to players, who were easy to pick out because of their customized forms. More skaven joined the chase including a Doom Wheel that was hidden to hunt down the players and a grey seer turning beasts into clan rats. In five minutes there were no more beastmen players left from the ambush, there were several hundred beastmen but they didn't matter.

The whole ambush took half an hour to prepare, then another ten minutes to execute. It was methodical, efficient and accomplished the task of removing some forces from the equation. It would also force more patrols and possibly an army into this section of the Darkwald, thus lightening the stress to the south west.

In another ten minutes the skaven would disappear back into the under realm. But there was not yet a force they or their masters had added into their calculations. The men of the empire and beasts actively sought the destruction of the PPA, but they didn't know as much hate as say one little girl. And she was the true master of the forest.

/

 _The Moot_

After a good day and part of a night of marching the battalion of dust and dirt clad PLA Battalion came to a halt outside of a large town belonging to the Moot. The town was basically a Hobbiton clone though home to about 3,000 halflings instead of a few hundred hobbits. It was harvest time so the smell of freshly cut grain filled the air and made the men hungry for food.

The falcones were moved into position overlooking the town and the men of the battalion set up camp to either side of it. Camp was set up and tents were erected . The rankers were told to stay in the camp it self while most of their officers had leave to enter the town and enjoy it's fine foods and drinks.

The rankers still needed to wait though before they could be unleashed. Their colonel had ordered them to rest in a cut grain field and have their regular food of black bread, hard cheese and poor wine. He wanted to wait till morning for the men to launch their attack and a good way to build up aggression was to essentially put a large carrot on a stick in front of their noses and tell them they can have it later. Letting rumors of loot, fresh food and sexy Halfling bots fester was encouraged. The other reason was that he awaited word from Jeremy who was on a scouting mission.

David watched as the pistolier rode back to the camp ahead of his detachment of horsemen. He pulled up and easily dismounted his horse while it still moved. Jeremy gave a smirk and said." Well I'm back boss."

As Jeremy opened his menu David asked." And what information do you bring?" He was not impressed by his subordinate's rakish attitude or the rank of alcohol on his breath.

Jeremy carried on any way and opened a canvas map for David and pointed to the Halfling town they overlooked." I have scouted about five different villages to the north and east of this one. Judging by the sizes they can rally about 700 militia, in addition to the 400 here. Though they will be filtering in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half after the attack starts. They'll be armed with spears and bows. I can't think of really anything else they'll be bringing to the field." He closed the map after pointing out the other villages.

David waved him off." Very well. I'll have you and the knights work together in countering the re-enforcements. Till then get some rest with the rest of your detachment. And don't disturbed me till the morning."

Jeremy snorted and buzzed off. He was would most likely go into town and get a few drinks before heading back to the camp. He got the idea he wasn't well liked, but that came with the territory of being awesome.

/

 _Leicheberg- Stirland_

Despite the many, many wondrous sites throughout the old world, stresses of running for your life on a near daily bases and other less than pleasant activities, there was very few ways to relax. Yes there was drinking, gambling and mini games. But there were relatively few places that a person could truly relax with no stress or worry.

One of the few places that offered a get-away was in Stirland. The Grand Gazebo East was a resort set up by a group of entrepreneurial high elves who saw the need of gamer's needing a place to unwind. This was their eastern most resort, though there were other resorts in Ulthuan and in Lustria.

Adler arrived in the resort and stepped out of the carriage to view the resort. It was a large building with a Y-shape, the walls were white and the roof was red, with granite and stucco masonry. He reached into the carriage and Tatianna took his hand and exited the wagon.

She smiled as she joined him looking at the resort. Instead of her regular equipped armor and weapons she instead was wearing a bright green Georgian dress which hugged her bovine body." This place looks better in person than the pamphlet you showed me. It reminds me of the hotels on the black sea."

Adler smiled and walked with her towards the entrance as he explained." I messaged the resort about where they came up with the design and the people who run this resort in particular said they based it off an actual grand hotel from my home state. Which took it's craftsman ship from Italian artisans who worked on some of the other grand resorts in the 19th century."

As Adler was giving more details to his girlfriend coming to a stop behind the carriage was a quarter mile long baggage train. The small forces of Adler, Tatianna and Rusty rode in carriages to keep up with their masters. It was expensive to say the least and the carriages were over packed with soldiers, but the bots didn't care any and Adler could afford to have the armies come with him.

The only one who did mind was Rusty who was packed into a carriage with about ten other human sized bots. He may have been used to cramp spaces since his time in Skavenblight, but even that ride was somewhat too much for him. Even the mortar and helblaster had better conditions that he did. It was with some relief that he was able to finally exit the carriage.

As a team of elven and human bellhops saw to the bags on the first carriage that Adler and Tatianna had exited from. All that Rusty got was a high elf with a clip broad." Your Rusty right?" He asked.

To which Rusty said." Yes I am. Can you show me to me room?" Rusty knew he wasn't going to be staying with Adler since he and Tatianna would be up to adult stuff.

"I'll show you your room soon enough. First I want to have you move the soldiers you and your friends brought to the barracks. I'll show you were they are. Also make sure it's snappy I have more coordinating to do." The high elf said.

Internally Rusty groaned at more work delaying him from relaxation. While inside the resort Adler and Tatianna were finishing up registration. The resort had a restaurant, a study, billiards room and library all viewable from the registration desk. The clientele of all the factions of the warhammer world could be seen mingling with one another.

The human receptionist then said after writing into a ledger." And your all set Herr Adler and Misses Afendivkof." She then held up a pair of keys." Our manager is seeing to your friend right now. He'll have his own room and we'll send word of where his room is." She then sent a friend request to both of them." This is the week's activity's the Grand Gazebo has planned. If you need room service just send me a PM or ask one of our staff and we'll see about serving you as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy your stay." She then sent the information over the private message.

Adler then tipped his hat while Tatianna was looking impassive, caring not much for the receptionist." Tank you kindly. Have a nice evening." Adler said and then turned to the opposite side of the entrance where several glass led to a door to the outside.

He then said to Tatianna and offered his arm to her, which she took." I do think you'll like this it's one of the better sights in the Empire." He paused for words as he led her to the panels." Of course you are the best sight in the Empire."

She giggled and lightly punched him in the arm." That was a horrible attempt at flattery."

Adler chuckled and rubbed his arm." Still at least it's better than nothing." He opened the glass door and Tatianna could see what her boyfriend was talking about earlier. She could see a white marble stair well leading to a clear pool, and where yet again stairs led down to gardens and a hedge maze.

But what took her breath away was the view. Due to the town of Leicheberg being on the border with Sylvania there was a clear boundary between the regions. That boundary was a fantasy village with golden seas of grain in the waning of the light surrounding it, a windmill turning in the air. That was followed by a dirt road. Then there was the border with Sylvania. It was a mist enshrouded land that bordered the road. It's effect when taken from a few miles away was like a land scape painting. A land between the living and the dead separated by only a thin line.

Tatianna then moved her arm from Adler's arm to his waist. She then hugged him to her side and smiled at the sight. Adler moved his own arm to hug her in return. They looked out at the land scape silently and together as a couple.

Their watching of the wonderful sight was disturbed for a moment when Adler moved his free arm and took a small box from his pocket. Tatianna looked down at the same time as Adler flipped open the top. She saw the diamond ring which glowed with runes around it. Tatianna didn't say a word, instead she looked down at her lover and kissed him deeply. Adler having his answer as their lips met.


	4. Gust Front

**AN: See first chapter for disclaimer.**

 **Reply to Reviewers**

 **Thusgrim: Thanks for the review.**

/

 _ **The Moot, 10:35AM 9th of September**_ _._

The Averland battle line was drawn up and ready for the day's action. The halberdiers and swordsmen were drawn up at its center with the 22'd firelocks divided to either flank of the battle line. In front were the falcones arrayed in a battery and ready to fire at the given word. In the rear was the reserves of the knights and pistoliers whose job it would be to intercept the Halfling militia bots that would come to aid the town when it was under attack. In front of the cannons stood Colonel David in his full plate armor.

David looked at his men and then gave his pre battle speech." See those homes over there?" He asked his men, sweeping his hand to the Halfling village which was unaware of what was to happen to them on their second breakfast" In those homes are dry, sandy holes. With pantry's full of food and plenty of loot. There are cute Halfling girls in those homes. Lets go and take their homes, rape the woman and eat our fill! For Averland and PLA!" His men shouted in return." For Averland and the PLA!"

Ducan licked his lips in anticipation. He really had no qualms about sacking the town. They were after all virtual creations and they had no rights in his book. This was one of the few ways he could have any enjoyment now a days anyway.

David then gave the signal to the battery who fired their cannons into the town. The cast iron balls destroyed a windmill, the shots blowing out the wooden beams supporting the windmill, causing it to collapse in on itself. David then ordered." All halberdiers and swordsmen charge. Take this town and what you want."

Duncan and his halberdiers along with the swordsmen surged forward past the cannons. There was a guttural roar as they did so. They felt the restraint of their commanders imposed on them lifted and they moved towards their reward like possessed beasts.

The melee troops were half way to the town when David ordered the handgunners to move in next to support the melee armed soldiers. When the melee troops reached the town, the first few spear and bow armed Halfling militia were forming their ramshackle units. The swordsmen blocked the scatter arrows with their shields and the halberdiers tore into the spearmen. It was a massacre that did not end with the militia. The old and young who were running for their lives were cut down in the street from the hand gunners.

Those that did not flee hid in their homes, but it was no use. The Averlanders broke into the homes and taverns. This was done by the players as the bots killed and slaughtered outside of the building.

Duncan broke into a home on the main market. An older Halfling male was there with a young son and a teenage daughter. The father Halfling was protecting his children by shielding them with his arms. Duncan laughed at the sight." Let's see how you like my pig sticker tubby." He then thrusted the spear point of halberd through the fathers throat and pinning him to the wall. The children screamed out as their father gargled out blood. His life slipping away as he watched his children at the mercy of the man.

The two children tried to run but Duncan grabbed them by their throats. They were smaller than a human equivalent and he easily lifted them up. He looked over the Halfling girl, she was a little pudgy but she was cute and would do. The boy, he didn't even care with. He slammed the boy's head into the nearby fire place, splitting his skull. The sister yelled out and cried, Duncan looked at her and smirked. From the corner of his eye he saw his karma meter fall even more slightly and he reached out to rip the girls dress off.

Then the game paused.

/

 _ **Outside of Altdorf, 10:35AM**_

"Target 350 yards ahead. Elevate 5 degrees. Steam pressure?" Kazumi asked Michele, her own hands full with one holding up a telescope and another on her far squeaker box. The machine was a recent addition the girls had received the day before. It was a radio box set powered by warp stone that allowed both internal communication in the steam tanks and external to reach the other members of the armored company and beyond.

Through the slight static of the head set Kazumi heard Michele speak." Pressure at normal levels, estimated loss of pressure will put us at lowest level." Kazumi thought.' That means another 30 seconds till we can move again and another minute to shoot.' The commander then heard the gun adjusting with the crank of gears shifting. The cannon was mounted in the hull and the entire tank had to be adjusted in order to fire in the right direction.

"Cannon ready to fire." Michele said.

"Alright, fire!" Kazumi spoke and Michele pulled the level unleashing blast of steam into the cannon. A cast iron cannonball shot out through a plum of steam into the air. It hit the earth a few feet away from the target and bounced through the round wooden target. The other two tanks floowshed with steam plums as the cannons fired. For a brief moment the entire rang that the steam tanks sat were engulfed in smoke and were obscured. The trio of commander's eyes being protected by brass goggles.

At the other end of the range the girls could see their targets. Kazumi's steam tank hit to the bottom right of the target's outer ring, Sandy's hit the just above the inner most ring and Tammy's was dead on in the center. The tankers were practicing with their heavy steam cannons today. Their lighter turret mounted steam guns were used just in case they got into close range of human or lesser bots.

" Good shooting ladies. A little off target there Ulrics Fist, but still good shooting." Sandy spoke through the far squeaker and then there was a pause." We'll take another ten volleys and head out to the valley for some real hard targets. That should be at about 1045 hours."

Kazumi and Tammy replied at the same time." Rodger." That was a rougher range where the ground was uneven and the targets were set at different distances.

The tankers were working at another round a few minutes later when the game paused for them.

/

 _ **The Gunners Arms Tavern, Nuln, 10:00AM**_

Resting in Color Sergeant Oak's arms was a naked Delia. They both slept in a bed in a private room on the second level of the tavern. After 18 hours of constant love making with various 'accessories' to stimulate themselves they finally collapsed a few hours ago. In between their kinky time's there was also the down time where they shared and got each other up to speed on what they had been up to, when they didn't share over private messaging.

They were sleeping peacefully till there came a knock at the door. They both didn't notice it and continued to sleep in their dream land. The knocking came more of a thump and a male voice called out. Delia stirred but her lover was a deep sleeper." Uh?" Asked the furry beastwoman.

The door was kicked in with a pair of heavy cavalry boots. The room's occupants suddenly came alive." Da fuck!" Shouted Oak as Delia gave a shriek.

Through the door Euan, Likes Gaming and another sergeant named Dagon walked through." Up we go Oak. We have a nose to bloody up." Said Euan in his thick accent.

Delia pulled back and covered herself with the sheets as she watched the scene unfold. Euan picked up Oak along with Dagon and pulled him towards the door." What the hell do you mean a bloody nose. I'm on leave!" He wasn't struggling but he was trying to stand up.

"Leave's been canceled for the entire Brunswick Corps boyo. You just haven't checked your messages." Euan said and let Oak stand.

"Can I get a minute then to get my clothes on?" Asked the color sergeant.

"Aye." Euan let his grip slip." Let him get his clothes on Dagon." Dago let his hand slip.

Oak equipped his clothes while in the bed Delia did so as well, glaring daggers at the men of IHA for barging in. Oak took the opportunity to also chk his messages and saw the half dozen messages informing him that it was leave was canceled." Oh fuck." He groaned as he read the messages. He looked at Delia with an apologetic look." I really got to go. Else it's the brig."

"True laddy." Euan said and then tapped his foot." So come along before we put you in the same cell as a boyo named Bubba."

Oak was fully dressed in his uniform as was Delia in a more conservative dress. Delia sighed as well and said." Very well love. Just be careful." She then walked up hugged him and pressed her curvaceous body against him and pressed her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the good bye kiss.

Euan then pulled Oak along with Dagon's help." I'm moving, I'm moving!" Oak said and started to move with them. He shouted over his shoulder to Delia." I love you!"

Oak was moving his Regiment members and was furious about the situation." What the hell is going on that needs all of us to take off leave?" His voice was edged.

The other IHA men started to move faster at a jog through the tavern and out onto the street. Euan said." We've been tapped for a raid into Averland." Before Oak could ask why the major continued." Michal told me it was because the boy's upstairs and Sharpe wants us to attack the PLA bastards before they can get in the first hit. "

Oak ran along with them and said." Damn. We are going to stir up a hornets nest." He was not looking forward to the response from the PLA.

"Aye that's the point. Also I think we are to draw in as many of the bastards and lead them straight to Nuln. We don't want them running around causing problems now do we?" Euan said as the group made it to the small steam engine station.

"Lovely." Oak rolled his eyes as he took his seat with the rest of the IHA that had brought him here." The entire PLA gunning for us."

"Look on the bright aide, you'll get to run away without anyone thinking less of you after we hit them." Dagon, a Brit, said. The train rolling out to the training grounds.

"If they catch us I'll show them my skills with my sword." Oak crossed his arms. He still was pissed at being tore out of the arms of his lover just scant moments ago.

Likes Gaming then spoke at that wonderful happy time for Oak and asked." Speaking of skills. Do you get hair balls when you and her-"

Oak glared at Likes Gaming." You say another word and you'll be eating with gold teeth for the rest of your time here." He said to the corporal who promptly shut his face.

The rest of the ride to the training grounds was uneventful save for the steaming sergeant sitting and stewing his feelings. When they arrived at the muster grounds the BC were formed up and preparing to move out. Oak could see that his regiment was near the front, third only to the pistoliers at the very front and the riflemen just ahead. Oak could see his old commander Sharpe going over the plans with the commanding officers of the various regiments in the Brunswick Corps at the front of the column. He could spy a certain blue haired sniper from his time in the resistance, she was now a sergeant in the 1st Imperial Green Jackets.

Oak took his place on a limber for a Saker as did Likes Gaming. The great and demi-cannons of the Empire were to heavy for a mobile regiment and would be left back on the heights for when the enemy attacked. Sakers and Falcone's were better suited to the warfare on the move, yet the sakers had the heaviest hitting power of the two. So the regiment had taken the sakers with them and were designated as flying artillery. There were 24 such guns in the regiment and half of them were controlled by bots and the other half by human commanders.

After the IHA came the other regiments part of the BC, they were light melee troops of halberdiers and swordsmen. In addition to the humans going on the expedition the Brunswick Corps also had a fresh detachment of several wagons belonging to Skaven players. These wagons contained far squeakers and runners to the various regiments. Texting in a fight was a dangerous business for a fighting man and message alerts may not of been heard over the din of battle. The inclusion of the signal corps was a welcome one.

It was a little after 10:30 that the regiment finally started to move out and on the road for Averland. The BC's black flags were covered and there was only a light march on drums and fief for musical accompaniment with Killaloe. Oak's thoughts as they moved out were of his beloved and how he felt so sorry about what he was forced to do….

/

In the city of Nuln, after her darling had left, Delia sat on the bed and thought to herself.' I traveled a few hundred miles… waited months… and only had a single night with Oak' She was not happy about the men who busted into the room with her and her boyfriend and took the latter away.

'What am I to do? Wait again to see him, if at all?' She looked out of the window their room had.' He is only a few miles away at most.' Delia added to her thoughts.

'I can go after him… but I'm not a high level like he is… I can still use a spear though in a pinch. I think, yes I will!' Delia stood and opened her menu." I'm going to follow him and I'm going to stay with him when he isn't fighting." She said aloud and equipped herself in form fitting brigandine, leather breeches and salet helm. She then equipped her spear, which was a inwardly curved spear.

Delia then ran out of the room and down the stairs. She was careful with the point and once she was outside she placed it onto her shoulders and proceeded to run towards the eastern part of town.

/

The lovers were just over three miles apart when the game paused.

/

 _ **The Lower Reik, 10:24AM**_

"Sail upstream!" Shouted the spotter in the crows nest of The Titans Hand. The human crew and it's passengers suddenly came alive with a new vigor. Various crew members suddenly went to their battle stations and the two passengers moved to the aft of the brig.

"What's coming?" Asked Chica as she made it to the helm where Rosina had taken out a spyglass to look for the sail. Philip ran up with his menu open and equipping his armor.

" Two master around the bend, out about a mile away." Rosina said to her passengers. She then shouted up to the crows nest." What class!"

It took a moment for the answer to reach down." Brig, Ship of the Line class. They are unfurling full sails!" The man spoke.

" Damn." Rosina cursed. She looked at her passengers." That's a step above our ship with a copper bottom and about two more guns per broadside. It has better speed on us as well with the copper bottom. If it was a carrack we could outrun it or if it was a sloop we could easily take them on. But we will need to face this vessel on one to one."

Philip then said." We are down river wouldn't that give us an advantage and a chance to get away?" He put on his plate mail as he spoke.

Rosina shook her head." We are also going up river the time it would take for us to turn and try to run would not be enough. The only chance we have is that we face this patrol on our own." She then walked past the passengers and had a bot ring the ships bell in alarm. She then yelled out." Battle stations! Load chain shot and set the guns elevation high!"

Her crew complied with her orders. The former pirates turned mercenary had learned a few things about naval discipline when it came to actual battle, unlike every other time. That amounted to going to your station and following the captains orders.

Philip looked and asked." How can I help?"

Rosina looked at Philip and Chica. They were her charges and she had to admit they were not pricks, so she had a certain respect towards them. So she took a split second to decide." If you are going to stay and fight I would suggest you get yourself scarce and keep yourself hidden until we are going to board them. If you really want to live though you can try to swim for the shore or fly away."

" I'll take the second option." Chica said. She got her mount and then made to flew low and fast down the Reik.

Philip on the other hand said." I'll fight for you and your crew. Best of Luck to you ma'am and try to survive." He saluted Rosina and proceeded to placed himself next to the gunwales, sitting.

Rosina said." You to!" She then set back to the task at hand and saw the Imperial Vessel with the black griffon on red field flag of Altdorf emerged from around the bend. The ship was similar to hers, though slimmer and additional sails to catch the wind. From the bow she could see a man dressed in a white coat lift up a megaphone." Marianburg Vessel! You are in Imperial Territory Illegally. Heave to port and prepare to be boarded!" After 30 seconds, in which Rosina's and the Imperial Vessel continued to bear down on each other, there came a plum of smoke and fire from the Altdorf ship's bow. A cannon ball splashed next to The Titans Hand can sprayed water on the deck.

'Warning shot.' Rosina thought. She looked through her spy glass and saw more details on the Imperial Ship. Its name was 'The Sea Hag' and she had a single great cannon mounted on the bow. She could see more details about the captain, his white coat trimmed in white and his hair long and a dark black along with a goatee. He was typing out a message in his menu, most likely to his superiors.

She lowered the spy glass and ordered out to her men." Prepare to bring her hard too port and brace for a broadside!" She moved down from the aft to the main deck and drew a pistol and equipped her halberd. She had to keep moving else she would be a sitting duck with her bright red hair. The Sea Hag was 300 yards off but closing fast.

There was another shot from The Sea Hag, this time it shot through the figurehead and embedded itself in the wooden bow of The Titans Hand.' Close enough.' Rosina thought and then shouted." Hard to port! Starboard prepare to fire!"

The helmsmen shouted." Aye aye! Hard to port!" He then pulled the wheel to the left, the ship lurching. The human crew on the Sea Hag saw what was happening and took cover for the coming broad side, the bots didn't have that luxury.

The Titan's Hand crossed in front of the imperial vessel. For a moment there was a serern silence as the ships creaked on the river. Then Rosina shouted." Fire!" The guns of her brig's starboard erupted in a single volley. Chain shot spined and whooshed through the air. The shots tore into the sails of the Sea Hag and into her top mast.

The Sea Hag kept coming though and was turning to port to bear its guns on The Titans Hand. The Titans Hand continued to bear at port when the Sea Hag's starboard erupted in flames and smoke. Round shot blasted through the aft cabin of the Titans Hand and two of the cannon balls made it through the cabin, one of which caught a bot through his chest removing it in a red mist. The other cannon ball missed Rosina by flying right past her head by scant inches.

She watched the Sea Hag as her own vessel turned. Rosina then raised her halberd as the two ships were parrel to each other." Fire!" She brought her weapon down as she yelled. The Titan Hand's port side then erupted in flames and smoke as more chain shot spun out. The chain shot caught the main mast of the Sea Hag and one cut it in twain.

For a moment the Sea Hag's mast was standing, then it began to tilt and fall to the port. It crashed with the sound of wood and rope snapping. Rosina laughed at the sight and ordered."" Load Canister! She's crippled and ours for the taking! Make ready to broad!" There was a roar of agreement and the Titan's Hand made it's way to the Sea Hag.

With the Hag's main mast down it was not able to meet the Titan's Hand with a proper broad side. The Titan's Hand, with it's sails fully functioning was able to sail behind the Sea Hag. Musket armed bot's fired at each other as did swivel guns, unleashing a wall of lead at each other. Bot's and a few unlucky players on each side were struck by the projectiles.

The Titans hand then sailed to the port side of the Hag and then unleashed a voley of grape, ripping into the bots crewing the ship. The Hag then delivered another volley of round, hitting the hull of the Titan's hand. None were critical but splintered some of the broads." Grapping hooks!" Hooks went over the side of the Titan and caught the railing. The two ships pulled close and more small arm's fire peppered the decks of both ships. Rosina raised her pistol up and shot at a player armed with a blunder buss on the aft castles railing. She caught him in the shoulder and he was spun around from the force of the shot.

Philip made himself known at this point with his sword and shield drawn, going towards the railing. Rosina saw him and then yelled out." Boarders away!" She ran at the railing and dropped her expended pistol on the deck, drawing another pistol. She jumped onto the Hag's deck with her men following. She shot another of the Imperial's in the chest and then went to both hands with her halberd. Both sides shot and slashed at each other as the melee started. Philip was like an tank armed with a sword rather than a cannon, he was able to parry and deflect blows off his body and hack into the lightly armored sailors.

Rosina made moved herself to the bow with a pair of players who took care most of the fighting, while she handed bots when she could. She tried to avoid players since they could think and made them more dangerous than the NPCs. That was when she was confronted by a player ahead of her, he was the captain of the ship and raised up a pistol in a blur. His finger was on the trigger and-

Then the game paused.

/

 _ **Slyvania, 30 miles South West of Konrads Watch, 10:22 AM**_

Sieges were surprisingly quick in WAO. Unlike in the real world equivalents of sieges which could take months if not years to launch assaults on castles, the amount of time to set up siege engines and trenches could be reduced to only a few hours. This was even quicker with the castle that the Zhufbarian-former Averlander army had besieged was half ruined.

The heavy guns of the mixed expedition had made short work of the remaining warmachines operated by skeletal bots. They also created a few more breaches in the wall to allow the infantry into the fortress without having to deal with bottlenecks already in the fortress. The dwarfs were in the front of the infantry, having more runes engraved in their axes and hammers, no matter how minor gave them a weapon to slay ethereal creatures. Wizards, both human and elven, supported the manlings and elves who were taking the second wave. The ranged weapons they carried would be of little use when they could not be enchanted.

After a night of the infantry resting and arty setting up, then the early morning of the cannons destroying the walls of the ruined castle, the infantry were eager for action. The ranks of the dwarfs surged forward, a couple thousand dwarfs bots and they few human masters marched towards a trio of breaches with a point of the commander's fingers and an verbal order. Roshi was one of those commanders who was leading her contingent forwards.

Roshi's contingent consisted of 30 dwarf players with her 2 captains having 20 each and the siege troops kept in reserve. Behind them were the human and elven players in about equal numbers. Combined there were over 5,000 bots. The castle had an unknown numbered of undead, but the number was most likely not even a few hundred of their numbers. There wasn't any spells thrown out by the fortress so the chances of their being necromancers let alone vampires was slim.

Almost as one, with a crashing of armored foot falls the army marched forwards. They moved briskly and charged into the breaches. The undead consisted of zombies and skeletons. The zombies were the easiest to dispatch with a good heavy blow to the body to knock it down or to take their heads off. The skeletons showed a ghost of skill and were armed with a verity of spears, shields and hand weapons. Some were even armored and as the army pushed deeper into the fortress to the keep they encounter grave guard.

The grave guard were heavily armored skeleton warriors who carried shields and swords. They were the most skilled of the undead. But against the tide of dwarfs and men they were quickly overtaken. That was till when Roshi's forces pushed into the keep and faced the master of the castle.

Sitting on a throne, clad in black armor was an ancient wright king. His eyes glowed with ethereal green flame. In his hands was a great axe that pulsed with strange power. With the creak of his bones and rusty armor he stood and pointed his great axe at Roshi. Above his head was a health bar and a name 'Jelso the Hellish' appeared above him.

Roshi took the challenge and stepped forward. She drew a pistol and fired a silver bullet at the wight king. He was staggered and his eyes flickered. Jelso opened his mouth in a silent hiss and began to barrel down on the dwarf woman.

Roshi sheathed her pistol and then drew her shield and axe. She braced the shield to her front as the wright king raised his great axe to bring it down on her. Jelso brought his axe down. The dwarf thane was quick though, stepping to the side. The axe hit the stone tile of the floor and sparks flew up into the air. Roshi then brought her hand ax down on the wright king's left knee. Her blade broke the through the bone and cloth of the knee. Jelso stumbled and slashed towards Roshi. She blocked the strike with her shield and rolled with the hit. She then attacked again this time taking his right arm with an upper cut. She unleashed one last blow with a downward strike to lift his head from his shoulders. The helmeted skull rolled onto the stone tile floor and opened it's mouth in a silent scream, the light in it's eyes flickering and dying.

Roshi smirked and before she could take her prize from the mid boss, the game paused.

/

 _ **Leicheberg - Stirland, The Grand Gazebo East, 10:33 AM**_

There was a question at the back of Rufus's head that had been sitting there for a few weeks. It was a thought that he was not pleased by but he had to confront it sooner or later. It started when he decided that he would ask Tatianna to marry him.

The practical problem of marriage in the game was non-existent, a player just needed to send an engagement request to another. If the opposite player accepted then they would be married without any ceremony. A highly unromantic affair to say the least.

Rufus was not that crass. He wanted to make his proposal special since he did want to make his girl feel special. Bringing her to one of the few resorts in WAO was the best way to do so. It may have been 100 gold per day per person, but the views and service was worth it. He had the money to spare for the rooms, but even then he couldn't be sure she would say yes.

The problem he had now that she had accepted his proposal was how far Tatianna would take their future marriage. If she was to view this marriage as an in game thing, not going further than the virtual world. That was not something he was looking forward to, he wanted to continue it in the real world. But there were so many problems, there was a real language barrier back at home, an international gap and then there was her father which from the stories she told was a loving but scary man.

These thoughts stirred in his mind as he awaited Tatianna who was occupying the shower. She was cleaning and drying herself, which given that she was covered in fur took a long time to accomplish. After last night's activities she did need to get her fur clean. He had already showered earlier and was fully dressed in an orange silk shirt, brown vest and tan pants as part of his day ware. He laid on the bed and was looking up at the white plaster ceiling of the room, his hands linked on his chest.

Then he turned to the bathroom door when he heard the handle opening the door. Tatianna walked out in a bright green flowing dress, showing a considerable amount of leg with a slit that went up to her lower thigh." Ready for breakfast?"

He stood and joined her." Eeyup." They then left the room and Rusty was waiting outside for them.

"About time. I'm starving and can't get my breakfast without you two being there." The young skaven boy said.

"Well come along then." Rufus said, as he and Tatianna walked down the hall. Rusty followed after the couple, not entirely pleased. Rufus hid his thoughts well as he walked.' I need to talk to her about it. I really do need to talk about real world stuff… I can't right now with Rusty in tow. Just a few more hours and I can.'

The group made it to the restaurant and ordered their late breakfasts. As they settled in a shadow took it's place above Rufus." Mind if I join you three?" The voice was female and familiar.

Rufus's face's color drained under his burnsides." Oh sweet Sigmar, it's you again." He turned and saw that it was Argo.

The others looked to her, Rusty with some appreciation and Tatianna with her face mixed with emotions. Argo took her seat with nary a word as Rufus said." I must say that when I do have your company it's pleasant, but it usually involves bloodshed at some point."

Argo chuckled and said." That is true." Her expression then harden." That's why I'm here. I want to talk to you about Averland."

That sent a shiver down both Rufus's and Tatianna's spine. Both having ties to the current military heads of the Imperial and Beastmen forces, they understood the situation in Averland was coming to a head. They both knew that it wouldn't be long till Averland had finally slipped it's bounds and made it's move to conquer the Empire.

"What about it do you want to talk about?" Rufus asked with caution in his voice. If Argo was here he knew something bad was going to go down. After all last time they met he got shot.

She then leaned forward and said." Averland will-"

Then the game paused.

/

 _ **Across the Warhammer World, 10:40 AM**_

The game paused across the virtual world. Battles stopped, sentences were cut off and the globe was frozen in that moment of time. For a split second countless thousands thought that Akihito Kayaba had sent them to another meeting place. Those thoughts were dispelled instantly when a movie played before their eyes.

The movie started in a dark dungeon with a circle of nobles in the red, yellow and black of Averland. The movie circled around the nobles as a male narrator spoke." In the darkest of times, many are lead by the smallest glimmer of light." The camera began to pan up and looked down at the gathering of nobles." But for some they embrace the darkness." It was then revealed that the nobles surrounded an 8 pointed star with a sacrifice victim on it." And the darkness embraces them."

The movie then blurred as the camera shot up through the earth. The camera followed the burning of a Temple of Sigmar, unholy icons being hammered into the stone work. Upwards the view went and settled onto a fortress. A warrior priests head was on a pike with a three eyed raven pecking at his eyes. Behind the priest the Averland flag flew with an 8 pointed star painted on the fabric with blood. The narrator then finished." Averland has fallen into heresy and the foundations of the empire have shaken."

The cut scene ended. But its implication was felt throughout the world with every player knowing this game had gotten darker more than ever before.

/

 **A/N: Oh what do you think about the unofficial title for this chapter being. 'The Cliff Hanger Chapter?'**


	5. The Final Plans

**A/N: See first chapter for disclaimer. Here it is folks, the brand new chapter I promised to y'all.**

/

 _ **The Lower Reik, 10:41AM**_

What saved Rosina was the game pausing. The captain of the Sea Hag was still processing what he saw giving the privateer the chance she needed to end the fight. She slashed her halberd down and opened up his throat in one swipe of her blade. The captain had a look of shock across his face as his health bar dropped to zero, as he bleed out. He collapsed onto the deck, leaving his crew without a leader.

The rest of the melee was quick as it was deadly. The deck of the sea hag ran red with blood as the age old practice of dead men tell no tales was enacted upon the remaining crew. The ship was captured and Rosina received a message about how it was now her prize. She ignored it and instead did a check up on her crew. She had lost 2 of her guild members and 20 sailors from the fight, that was out of a 12 players crew and nearly 60 sailor bots. Luckily Philip was still alive.

She personally went to him on the aft deck and saw him sitting and cleaning his sword of the blood and gore. He looked up at her." We taking the ship or leaving it?" Philip asked.

Rosina shook her head and crossed her arms beneath her chest." The ship is to badly damaged for us to take back to Marinburg and we need to leave now before the Imperials send more ships to find us. The captain's contacts know that we are here."

Philip looked at the bow section and shrugged." Good man. If he went Bret I would of liked to of have him under my command. Shame about his friends and family IRL."

To that Rosina huffed." He's probably waking up back IRL, lucky bastard."

Philip stood and spoke." So you think Kayaba was lying?"

The privateer then nodded happily and with a sick smile on her face. Philip shook his head in disgust." Then in that case I'm surprised that you haven't taken a bullet to the head and said good bye to this world."

Rosina 'tched' with a flick of her tongue." Bah, why would I want to do that? The life's good here."

Philip stood and sheathed his blade. He then started to walk back to the Titans Hand." A good life is freedom to choose how to live it to it's fullest. " He then stopped and glared at her." Not when it pleases you in another's game." He then left for the ship leaving the red haired pirate with some things to really think about.

/

 _ **Averheim, 10:45 AM**_

Kiabou was ecstatic and had ran out of his quarters naked and called together his advisors. With that cut scene he knew it was time to act and take Nuln! He ran into the broad room and took his seat at the head of the table. His advisor's weren't there yet but knew they would soon. He decided to take some time and get a snort of some wired root, he opened his window and the drug appeared in his hand. Kiabou then opened the vial and instead of lining it out he decided that now was a perfect time to celebrate his states debasement into the red, he snorted the entire vial.

His mind exploded into a moment of pure joy and pleasure. His mind was filled with a thousand neurons firing and engaging his dopamine production. His eyes became a kolliadiascope of colors and his brain experienced something akin to a dozen orgasm's all at once. For a full five minutes his mind experienced this pleasure and his body wracked with movement as his mind processed the experience. He loved every minute of it and as he felt it he could see the hermaphodicitic form of slaanesh for the briefest of moments.

But the high passed and his mind relented he could see that he was no longer alone. Around the table were his advisors. He panted and then spoke with a smile." It's time. It's finally fucking time. Get the armies together we'll march by night fall."

Tavington raised his hand up and said." Yes sir, but a question. I bet you need to prepare yourself."

Kiabou then spoke." Prepare… prepare for what? My army is ready, my allies are ready and my enemies are ready."

Tavington smiled and said." That may be true sir but you need to choose who to bring with you. After all our dear count should be in the lap of luxury and a girl or three in your own. Why not spend the day picking out the women for your personal carriage? We'll do all the hard work and you can take care of your more important duties to yourself. After all do you really need to be bothered with reports on how many pikemen we've recruited today?"

The elector tyrant then thought.' Why not, he is right, I am a count and I deserve the best. I am going to be emperor soon so why not take with me what I can. Plus it will be hard to decide who to bring with him to the fight.' Kiabou spoke aloud." Yes I'll do that now! It will take time to plan, should I take the ones with the biggest boobs, the best booty or maybe my loli's?" He then stood and ran to his chambers again, still free balling it back to his harem.

With the elector count gone Fethof ran his massive meaty hand down his face." Please tell me we are still planning on him getting a cannon ball to the face? I really can't stand the son of the bitch and now he's running around naked."

Kirk shrugged." In two weeks he'll be dead, via cannon ball or a stab in the back. Till then we just need to keep him away from the actual work as much as possible." Kirk then looked to Tavington." Good catch there."

The Brit snorted with a smirk." Over 6 months of being in this circle if I didn't learn how to distract our dear leader I would be dead or in the ranks. Instead I'm sitting on this posh chair helping to decide the fate of thousands for Emperor Kirk the 1st." Tavington knew that Kirk was the true power behind Kiabou and he would not be content with just being the elector count. Kirk had his claws deep into the other areas of Averheim's aristocracy and Tavington did not want to stand in the way. He would be content with the seat of Averheim, if only for a few more days till the destruction of the Great Temple of Sigmar. " Though I wonder are you going to recall your chaos causing rodents in the north to do in Kiabou?" Tavington asked.

Kirk shook his head." Na, from what I heard there is some traitors in Sylvania working with the dwarfs from Zhufbar." He then smiled widely and pointed to Fethof." The same ones who wrecked Cragmere."

Fethof's expression harden and he said." I want in on fighting them." His bright red eyes harden.

To that Kirk shook his head." You can send about 100 green skins. But not you and your entire army. They are needed to the west. Also before you ask no they won't be alone, we have a battalion already in the Moot and they'll join the green skins you send. I'll even send the skaven I got running around the darkwald to cause more trouble."

Before Fethof could protest Tavington stopped him." What about the main dwarf throng is Zhufbar let alone the other holds? We would be opening up our rear if we do so."

Kirk had an answer for that as well." If we don't we'll have a force of traitors still able to strike our rear. This way we will be able to decimate them and if the throng of Zhufbar do strike out it will take a week for them at least to march down to Averheim with their artillery. Even then it would be a large siege operation that would take two maybe three days to take control of the city. If they do seek help from the other halls it will be difficult to convince them since the other holds do not hold anything against us. In addition by the time they do make it here to Averheim we would of taken Nuln and Marianburg would at least have decimated the North's defenses enough for us to march into Altdorf."

Fethof looked at the manling and asked." How long have you known about the dwarfs in Sylvania? I know you've known for a while if you have those points already prepared."

"4 Days." Kirk said honestly when he was found out." But even I let you known earlier what could you have done? We are committed to go West, if I told you earlier how many greenskins would you take to go Northeast and then with no support for when the dwarfs brought down the hammer. Now we do have a reason in that they are openly harboring our clear enemies. So your boyz will be clobbering the traitors and stunties anyway."

Fethof looked pissed but he was silent. Instead Tavington said." And if the dwarfs along with their human traitors win the fight against the greenskins? Wouldn't that be still allowing our flank to be vulnerable?"

To that Kirk countered." By then they would have suffered too many casualties to continue fighting any further than Sylvania. Then we get back to my previous points."

Fethof then stood and pointed to Kirk." You're a bastard but I'll go along with the idea." The massive green skin then turned to Tavington." I'll send the details to you." He then proceeded to stomp out of the room.

With him gone Tavington asked Kirk." So, how are we going to make sure he gets a cannon ball to the face when the time comes?"

Kirk chuckled." I think it's easier to be sure that a shot to the back is easier on the fields of Britenfield."

/

 _ **Altdorf, 10:50 AM**_

The meeting was informal but was on an edge. To avoid the hordes of players demanding answers and military officers looking for orders in more official setting, Steve and Mortimer had decided to go to the imperial palace's kitchen. They took their seats across from one another at a small table, Steve speaking first as he sat." Well shit's hit the fan."

Mortimer nodded to that and said." Well then at least we were partially moving before they turned to the dark side. Eugene will be in Nun by tomorrow night and the Brunswick Corps are already moving to raid the Averlanders. Though I do have some bad news it looks like one of patrol ships has been taken by a Marianburg ship. No other ships were seen by the captain before he sent the message so I think it was a scout."

Steve sighed." Shame, but still we have bigger problems." He opened his menu and spoke." When I and the Middenlanders get the final word on Marianburg making their move we'll start moving as well. I sent out a general mobilization for the rest of the remaining players. Still though we'll be in a fog of war till we find out what we'll be facing exactly and who will be our opposites."

To that Mortimer countered." Yes, we'll need to out how to counter the Marianburgers. The good news is that we know they are using mercenaries from every other faction and we use much the same mercenaries, along with their forces being split between us and Middenheim. The problem is that we need to counter what they do have without knowing what they all have."

Steve shrugged." Can't defend everywhere, if we did then we can't anywhere. We'll deal with the surprises with what we have. I'm sure that the steam tanks will have a field day though."

Mortimer cupped his chin." Speaking of the steam tanks I think we should use them for a special event tomorrow. One that'll raise up the spirits of the troops."

/

" _ **Castle Runia", Sylvania, 11:00 AM**_

The conquest of Castle Runia was something of a hallow one for Roshi's army. Just over 20 minutes earlier they had taken the ruins of the castle, Roshi having renamed it to her liking, but with their victory came news no one wanted to hear. The game paused and they saw the cut scene that declared Averland had fallen into heresy.

Roshi leaned against a column in the keep of Castle Runia, around her were her captains and Weiss along with some of his people. The group were discussing what to do about the new problem of Averland. She listened to the dwarfs and humans talk to one another about how they should strike and another how they should stay in the castle. Weiss was keeping his group under control though. His group were former Averlander's and if any had a good reason to go to the south to kick some PLA ass it was them.

Weiss though, despite wanting much of the same thing was keeping his cool about the matter." Klein I know you want to avenge your friend but still keep your head. If you want to find the person who shot him you'll be welcomed to after the PLA, but I want you to think about how you are going to go after them. How the hell are you going to find him? Are you going to put more of your friends and your fellow knights in danger for some vengeance?"

Klein then said." You wouldn't be saying the same thing if your daught-" Weiss rose up his hand to silence the younger man.

" I am her father… I love my daughter more so than you could any of your friends. But I realize that if I loose her I will have other responsibilities. I will kill the bastard who harmed her but only after I am secure that my remaining friends are safe. At that point even if I die at least I will know that everything is alright as well as I could make it before I died. But till then I will protect her as much as you should look to protect your remaining friends."

Then another member of his group spoke up." But what happens if the PLA win's and destroys the GTS? Where does that leave us? Shouldn't we move to fight them instead and try to go for the throat and at least have a chance of escaping?"

Weiss bit his lip at that logic and was silent. Roshi saw it and then spoke to spare her companion from any ill will from his own people." I think it's safe to say that both sides have their points. We don't have the numbers to make a real dent into the rear of the Averlanders and we are at a much bigger chance of being cut off completely. If we don't attack then they will have more reserves to take against Nuln and Altdorf eventually. Given the choice's we have we are dead if we do and we are trapped if we don't." She settled against the column and looked at Weiss." I will back your choice Weiss, we've fought together long enough that I trust you to make the right decision."

Weiss then looked at Roshi then his comrades, his daughter and then back to Roshi." My choice is…." He then drew his sword for dramatic effect." Kreig! We go to war against the PLA!" The arms of his knightly order shot up and there was a shout of agreement. It wasn't just the humans but some of the elves and a few of the dwarfs did so as well.

Roshi then opened her menu and wrote to Thordek.' Look's like Weiss will be leading his army to Averland, most of my people want to go and I can't stop them. I'm going to go to war with them and leaving a small garrison here with our newest acquisition.' She then sent the message off and then turned to Weiss.

She motioned to the older man who saw her and detached himself from the group of semi-celebrating people." Yes Rin" He asked her.

The dwarfen commander then said." I want you to know that I'm taking control of this army. You'll be my second in command of course, but if we are to be putting ourselves against real players then I'm going to be in charge." There was a small pause and she winced." Weiss for the love of our mutual gods I need you to at least survive this, if there is anyone else who can lead the mailings after a defeat it's going to be you."

Weiss looked down at her and then relaxed his shoulders." I trust you. I also expect you to look after Gertrude if I was too lose my life." He then smiled at her." Age really doesn't count in this game, just ability. You're not even twenty and you just put into your hands almost 150 people voluntarily. This game really has the ability to show how deep our depths are, for good and as we know all too well how bad."

'This is a good man if I ever saw one. I do hope he does make it out of here.' Roshi thought while looking up to him.' If anything I'm sure when a history book is written on WAO he'll have his part to play.' She then heard the sound of a PM arriving in her message box." Thank you for your words. Now see to your people and let me deal with my boss."

Weiss nodded and turned on his heel. He then walked to Klein." Klein I need you to lead a patrol to the north. We don't want any surprise warbands behind us and I want-" He then continued to bark more orders and was lost in the crowd.

Roshi read her message from Thordek.' Very well, I'll send some Gyro's your way and the A2-C2 for good measure. Happy Hunting Major Rin.' That brought a smile to her face and she closed the message box.

' Well." She thought.' Lets get down to business.'

/

 _ **Darkwald, Stirland, 11:20 AM**_

Wizzel looked at the messages he had received from the PLA and sighed as he closed his window." I should have joined Laughing Coffin when I had the chance." He said to himself.' At least they don't have to deal war so much as just killing.' He then added to his thoughts. He saw that other players had received the same message and then spoke to them." Looks like we have to operate out in the open now."

The grey seer looked at him." But till we have to fight how about we keep to the shadows and tunnels? It's a ways yet to Sylvania."

Wizzel nodded." Sure thing. We gotta be smart about this after all."

The Engineer armed with the 3D maneuver gear then added, throwing a hand over his shoulder." Not to mention this forest has been giving me the creeps. I'm thinking were being followed but whenever I check I only find some NPCs going on with whatever their programmed with."

Wizzel waved him off." Bah, it's probably your skaven paranoia. I love the bonus's our race has but still some parts are pretty negative. After all when I was in Khemeri a few months back out on the dunes I was only person around for a hundred miles and still I felt like someone about to back stab me."

The engineer nodded." Yeah… still kinda freaky."

Wizzel snorted and smiled." Hey we're part of Clan Freaka, if we're not dealing with something that isn't freaky then we're doing something wrong. Now then come on we need to get down south soon." He then turmed to move out with his retinue following along.

All the while NPC and a single set of player eyes followed them and started to make preparations of their own especially on when to call the pack together for the kill.

/

 _ **The Moot, 12:30 PM**_

Jeremy rode into destroyed the Hobbiton clone of a town with the rest of his pistoliers. They were fresh with the smell of black powder and sweat after dealing with the Halfling re-enforcements from the surrounding towns. The halfling's were quite easy to deal with once the bow armed militia regiments were dealt with. The pistoliers then just rode circles around their spear men with the knights breaking them easily. Of course there was a blood bath to cut down the remaining Halflings to stop them from regrouping and that expended the last of the pistoliers ammunition. By then it was over and they were safe to move about as they pleased.

Since there were no more Halfling miltia to be marching to this towns aid he decided that he would pick over anything left from sacking. In addition to his soldiers pay he had a concern about the cut-scene that made it clear that things were never going to be quite the same in Averland again. When he arrived at the town what he found was a burnt out village and the lowly infantry players devouring the halfling's food's and wines, along with an auction block set up where the cutest captives were held and sold. There were not many since the halfling's were not that particularly attractive race but in the large town there were a few girls and boys who could do for a bounce or two.

Jacob then thought. 'Lets get this over with.' He rode up to Colonel David and dismounted, saluted and said." I would like to report today's action."

David, a bottle of wine in one hand and a halfling girl being held closed to his body in his other hand, said to him." Give your report lieutenant."

Jacob lowered his hand." All Halfling militia's from the surrounding towns have been routed with about half a dozen bots lost. There is no more trouble coming our way and we're clear to party like it's 1631." He smirked at the last line.

David took a swig of his wine as he heard Jacob, lowering the wine he said." Good. We're going to get some re-enforcements tomorrow and move up north to take on some traitors and stunties. So get some powder before you get to the party else you won't have enough time tomorrow."

Jacob shifted uncomfortably." So were going to be facing players?"

To that Jacob nodded." Ayup, so prep for that. They'll be thinking outside the box so be ready to deal with that. Dismissed."

He then walked off to a non-burnt out hole in the ground leaving Jacob to his thoughts' I better get sloshed tonight.' He thought before heading off to the quartermaster.

/

 _ **Leicheberg - Stirland, The Grand Gazebo East, 4:20 PM**_

Alder stood on the west patio looking over the pool as the sun began to set. He saw Tatianna in her blue two piece, as she swam in the water and as much as he enjoyed looking at her near naked form his thoughts over took his mind. Argo was still in the hotel but would be gone by night fall. In his mind her words still resonated though.' Averland has fallen into heresy, I was hoping to get here before that happened but it's to late. Please listen though I still need to talk to you about it.'

He felt his shoulders dip as he remembered her words at the breakfast table.' Well I wanted to know if you would want to join me in an expedition to Slyvania, there's an army of refugees there along with some dwarfs. If we join them then we'll add on to their forces and throw the PLA off if they face them, since they wouldn't expect us. After all we caused all sorts of chaos when we worked together against them last year.'

He then told her that it wasn't him but his group who did it, but Argo wouldn't have any of it.' And guess who led them, Golden Wolf. If the PLA know that you're in the fight they'll be pouring a lot more resources to fight you over the actual Imperial Army. Even if you'll be running they'll think you're up to something.' Then she did something that disturbed him, Argo nodded to Tatianna.' And you can't stay out of this fight either.'

It was at that point that Adler dropped his respectful interaction and gave a very cold ' Leave us' and Argo did with the words that she was going to stay at the hotel till night fall. Now he was on the patio as he thought about his options. How he was on vacation but the fate of his people and others hung in the balance… how could he say no to Argo's offer. But then again he owed little to her and he had severed his ties to the command structure of the Empire and had no power over it save for his bots. Was it only some selfish pride that kept him from taking actions for the long run of getting out of this game?

As he continued to think he felt the hand of his fiancée on his back." You alright Rufus?" Tatianna asked him.

He sighed and turned to her." I'm just trying to think of any reason why I should not take up Argo's offer." He paused for a moment." I thought up a few but each time I do I feel more like a bastard. Sure I can say I don't really have the time to fight since I'm on vacation… but then I think of all the other players who got called off their own holidays. I can't talk to a player who survived this war and say that I decided to wait it out. Then I have the problem that we'll be separated and I just popped the question." He then gave a humorless chuckle."That's pretty much a death sentence in movies 'oh me and my girl are gonna get hitched after the war is over' is up there with 'only three more days till I retire'."

Tatianna had a look of concern on her face and then she straighten out her expression." That is true. Also Argo was right about me being called off to fight." Her expression became more serious and Adler's heart dropped." I could never forgive you if you decided not to fight when you had the chance to do so. I would never have anything else to do with you."

Adler then turned back to the pool." I guess that doesn't leave much of an option for me then." He then asked." So where do you suppose you'll be fighting when Reck call's you to war?"

Tatianna then smiled and hugged her fiancée close." I'll be by your side." He looked up at her with a confused expression. She then explained to him." If I move before I get orders and say I'm already fighting against the PLA then I think Reck can know why can't fight directly under him. So that means we'll be fighting side by side or at least pretend to."

Adlers expression changed to a smile and he then pressed his head to her cleavage." Thank you." He said tenderly." I'm sorry about the vacation going to hell though."

She giggled and pat his back." Once this is over you can take me to Lustria. I've seen ad's for a resort there."

He looked up and said." Deal." Then kissed her. She returned the affection and after a few precious moments let him go.

Tatianna then said to her future husband. " You have to go tell Argo our choice. I'll get Rusty and our luggage. We can't afford to spend the night here anymore."

To that Adler nodded." Ayup. I'll tell her. I'll see you in a few." He then ran off to find Argo.

/

 **Thus all the pieces were in motion.**


	6. Opening Moves

**A/N: See first chapter for disclaimer. Here it is folks, a brand new chapter after a hiatus. Man this one is a doozy, and all because of my wonderful reviewers supporting this story. Keep on reviewing and critiquing the story and I'll keep on working to improve it along with each review. Remember keep me honest if I make mistakes in the story. That and Microsoft word changes some of the words I use as well so the sooner I know about something wrong, the sooner I will be able to fix it. Again any beta's out there?**

 **Also in regards to the story. With the release of the Age of Sigmar I want to make this clear that this story will not feature the new world therein. WAO will be based in and finish in the Old World. Of course there is going to be a couple of epilogues one where the story will officially end with and one ending that I've been wanting to do since the beginning of this fic.**

 **So… Total War: Warhammer is awesome!**

 **Finally I want to announce to you folks that I will be taking on some new responsibilities as the English Beta for An ISOT in Grim Dark. If you want to read a Warhammer Fantasy story with more modern people lost in the Old World you can't go wrong with it.**

 **Reply to Reviewers-**

 **Edward95: Thanks for your support.**

 **Deathwing316: No porn here unfortunately… OT16+ in regards to nudity and sexuality though.**

 **/**

 **Sylvania, 7:20 AM 10** **th** **of September**

The Ruins of Castle Bylorhof was a dark outline in the early morning fog. It was an intimidating and darkly gothic as it loomed over the town of Bylorhof. After a night of patrolling it was a tempting target for the knightly detachment that Klein was in charge of.

There were five knightly players with Klein, a fifth of the total amount of knights that Weiss had under his banner back down south at Runia. But despite having only five actual players, there were another 56 knightly bots bound to the players. It was an armored force not lightly tangled with unless one was armed with some armor piercing weapons, or magic.

With the full plate armor and plenty of bots it gave Klein and his fellow troops some confidence, not over confidence of course since they had seen what a bullet could do to their armor if placed rightly. But given that he was in Sylvania over a true province of the empire, where the most dangerous projectiles were skeletal arrows, his confidence was riding high. He looked at the castle and licked his lips, after a day and night of moving to the north with hardly any fight the chance for loot and to get stuck into combat was welcomed.

' I'm a little tried, but that castle… just an hour raid then a day long ride back to Runia and we'll be on our way to Averland, maybe even a level higher." Klein thought, at level 35 he was pretty decent in a scrap but at the same time another level never hurt anyone.' Just an hour at most for a raid.' He then turned to his fellow knights and friends." We're going to raid that castle. Make it quick and we'll be back to Runia in a few hours. Let's move out." He then pointed towards the castle and as he trotted forward there was a groan from his buddies. He ignored it since unless they actually said something about it, they were still up for the fight.

The detachment trotted into the town with their banners flying and found it just like almost every other Sylvania town. A gothic and highly eastern European style was applied to it, where the smell was musty and in the foggy morning made it so only a few feet ahead could be seen clearly. On the doors of the buildings were the sigil of the hammer and above them were strands of garlic hammered above the thresholds. The NPCs that were making their way around were long and weary faced, averting their eyes from the passing knights and ahead was a player on a horse.

'Wait who is that?' Klein thought as he looked at the player riding towards them. Klein brought his horse to a stop and watched the other player.

The player was walking the horse forward at a gentle pace. His form began to take shape below his player's bar, the most noticeable aspect being his broad brim hat. After that it was clear he was witch hunter from his black leather coat and golden sigil across his chest. Then from behind a giant horned shape and two cloaked beings took form. The witch hunter spoke with an American accent, a strange one to Klein were the vowels sounded drawn out." Howdy there friend." He tipped his hat." The names Adler and I was hoping to meet up with a mister Weiss."

Klein gripped his reins with his left and slowly and as inconspicuously as possible went for his stiletto on his right hip." Why do you want to meet with Wiess?" One of his friends then gripped his gauntlet.

"Klein you know who that is? He was the leader of the Golden Wolves, I recognize him from the Daily Argo." Said Kleins friend.

Then from one of the short shapes they could hear a female voice." Ah, good to see that my paper has left an impression on you. Oh how rude, I'm Argo."

Then the minotauress stepped through the fog." And I am Adler's Fiancée, Tatianna captain of the Beastmen." She then pointed a finger to the last hooded figure." And that's Rusty. Me and my fiancée's charge."

Klein was flabbergasted, how in the hell was it that a former resistance leader and the only international publisher in the world were both togeather and right infront of him. Then he remembered that Adler wanted to see Weiss.' Oh I see.' It clicked. Then aloud." You want to join up with Weiss and the Silver Seekers?"

To that Adler nodded." True dat. I heard that there is a dust up going to happen around here and I decided I needed to start kicking some PLA ass again since they got uppity." He rode up and extended his hand." Now then son, what's your name and what are you doing all the way out here?"

Klein took the hand and shook it." My name is Knight-Preceptor Klein and I was hoping to raid the castle overlooking the town. Since you're here though I think I'll take you directly back to Weiss."

Adler smirked and let go of Klein's hand, then pointed his finger at the castle." That little speed bump? Hell I could be in and out of there in 30 minutes. I'm pretty sure your boss won't mind you gone for that long."

Klein raised an eyebrow." Your alright with us going in there?" He asked.

To that Adler nodded." Sure… if you don't mind if I take along my boys as well." He then waved forward." March 30 paces!" From out of the mist came the marching of hobnailed boots and the head of a column of empire state troops, Halberdiers." And that's just the front of them. There are a few hundred rat men and few score beasties as well making up the rear."

Klein looked at the small army approvingly. He may have had some of the best armored troops men in the game, baring of course the Chaos Warriors and certain dwarfs, but the diversity that these other troops would being on the raid would make things so much more easier." Very well then. Do you have any hand gunners? We can use them as second rank for my knights to add extra fire power."

Adler smiled widely." Sure do along with some, crossbows, swordsmen, a mortar and a helblaster… though the latter two might not be needed this time around. Blade and bullet work though will be plenty needed."

Klein nodded." Well follow me then. My knight's will be taking the lead, you'll be getting half the loot of course. Any 40k weaponry though belongs to my company."

Adler waved him off." Actually you can take 60%, it works out a bit more even since you guys are taking the lead. Plus it splits fairly evenly with your buddies. Oh and I don't mind skipping over the 40k gear, I've had my fill of bits and pieces of it." The older man said.

Klein nodded." Seems fair. Well lets get this show on the road." He then clicked his tongue and lightly pressed the flanks of his horse and set it to ride up to the castle.

Adler rode up next to Klein and asked." So how far is the main arm of your army?" Klein gave him a look and Adler chuckled." It's just in case we get separated, killed or otherwise indisposed."

Klein thought of Adler's words and then opened his map." The camp is at Runia, a former ruin 50 miles to the south." He pointed it out and then noticed he had a few messages as well." Hold up." He read a message and then looked up." Looks like they are moving to the south to Stoodhof and should be there by noon. That's a 70 mile ride."

Adler did some calculation.' At a good gallop horses can go up to 20 miles an hour without killing them on the roads. Course if you really needed to get somewhere in a hurry without worrying about the horses then you can get up to 35 miles an hour, but you go any further and they'll get killed soon enough. Given we have troops, if I pay up for some wagons for over 500 bots that's 15 miles an hour at max. Given the alternative of a force march at 7 miles an hour though….' Then aloud he said." So about 5 hours then. I think they can handle that, what with you bringing in new friends. Just tell PM about us ahead so they don't think I'm pulling a fast one."

Klein rattled off the message and then looked back at Adler." You seem to know your left from right. What were you before the game, military?"

Adler shook his head." Na, I worked in an office filing away my days. Sure I did some re-enacting every now and again, like Rusty, but I never really commanded anything in real life side my mini's. You?"

Klein chuckled." I used to also work in an office as well. I never did any real physical stuff or was part of any sport's teams. But I was a nut for samurai and MMO games. Ain't that right boys!" His buddies answered with a shout of agreement. Klein smiled." We were all in line throughout the night WAO was released." He explained." We decided on Averland long before we even were able to pre-order. Of course… well we had another member of our team, he went by the name Basil in the forums and he got shot when we escaped Averheim. That's when things started to go south."

Adler nodded." I've been luckily myself, I've had a few friends from my local game shop sign up for WAO as well. They survived… but I've had comrades and my followers I've had die under my command, far too many." He then smiled." But I am looking forward to make sure their sacrifice is not in vain and to finally put down the PLA."

Klein looked at Adler approvingly." Basil would of wanted of to have fun in the game, but also he wanted us to meet up for beers after a good gaming session. If you come to Japan look me up and I can show you to one of my old dives."

Adler laughed and slapped Kleins back." Sure thing. The problem is that I doubt I'll still have a job when I get home so that Japanese trip will be in a few years at least."

Klein smiled as well and the two continued to talk as they rode up to the castle. Once they reached the gates the knights and Adler dismounted. Klein drew up the knights, a mix of great weapon and sword and board armed troops at the front of the gates, Adler took up the next line with his hand gunners and crossbowmen with the swordsmen and halberdiers taking up the rear.

" Right so I have it that my guys will be following me and I'll follow you and your knights." Adler told Klein. He then turned to Argo, Rusty and Tatianna." You guys will be taking up the responsibility for clearing out the area's that I and knights move on from." He drew his saber and long barreled pistol. Tatianna nodded and said." Sounds like a plan, you boys will be putting your selves in danger over us women and child." She smirked." Next time though I'll be playing the head of the spear, that or I can be on top of things next time." She then stuck out her tongue to him and gave a playful wink.

Adler chuckled and said." So glad I have a ward save against snusnu." He then turned to Klein and said." You have the honors of kicking down the door."

Klein, who used his sword as a great weapon then turned to the door and lifted his left foot. With a thunderous kick the rotten wooden gate fell way and he moved forward with his knights in tow. What they found were zombies, fairly low leveled mobs and expected in the outer rings of the ruined castle defense. The knights needed no help on eliminating them as their skill and armor protected them from the claws of the undead, given they were scattered. It was only after they had fought through the small horde of zombies and to the keep when they started to find better fighters.

Skeletons were the next foe that the imperials face as they made their way into the keep. These creatures were armed with shield and spears and were somewhat dangerous to the knights in that they could fight with some skill. Still they were not up to par as a human NPC. The knights used their shields or gauntlets to fight pass the skeletons to destroy their bony selves. But with the better mobs came that it took time for the knights to dispatch them and this allowed the mobs to get into better places to get a luckily strike with their spear. That would of happened had not Adler's hand gunners opened up along with the crossbow men. They were given time to fire and aim at targets that knights were not engaged with and their projectiles splintered bone as they impacted against the mobs. Shields were splintered and skull's exploded into dozens of little fragments. In just 30 seconds the hall was cleared.

Klein raided up his fist." Hold up guys. Look for loot and let Adler's bot's reload." The witch hunter hadn't even fired his pistol, letting his bots do all the work, but still he let his bots reload as he looked around for loot besides the drops from the skeletons. He let the knights look for the treasure chests that were bound to be around the keep and instead he walked to the various torch holders. Gripping each on he gave a firm tug down on them. On the southern part of the keep he found that the third torch holder he pulled down on gave way. There was a loud noise of rusted gears gaving way and stone work depressing and then opening up the floor next to the torch holder.

Klein looked at the floor and then at Adler." How did you know about that?"

Adler grinned and then took out from his inventory a pole-lamp, as he did so he explained to Klein." This world runs on tropes. We are in a scary castle in a region famous for undead monsters. A lot of old horror movies used this trope to hide rooms in similar situations." He then took out a leather harness and put it over his leather coat and attached the pole-lamp to it. He lit it and then said." So lets see what's hidden down here. Gents in some real armor first."

Klein then took a torch and lit it, leading the way into the spiraling stair case below.' Well he is a witch hunter so he should know about that.' He thought.

His knights followed loudly with their armored feet clanking against the stone work with the hob nails of Adler and his state troops coming up from behind. The knights emerged into a long hall way with enough room for 5 men wide to advance down it. At the same time though to either side there were walled up vaults. Klein led his men and bots forward at a slow pace, sword in one hand and torch in the other. When Adler made it to the hall way he looked around and shouted." Stop! Stop! Hold Up!"

Klein stopped but as he did so he took one step forward and then heard mason work cracking and breaking. His eyes darted to the walled up vaults and saw that skeletal hands and rusted blades started to break through the brick works." Oh shit." He had to think fast… and he realized that if the skeletons could break though that meant the walls were breakable objects to his men's weapons. He shouted to them." Break down the walls, charge into them!" He kicked through a rapidly disintegrating wall and then stabbed forward with his heavy blade into the darkness. The blade connected with and sunk into the heavy armor of the grave guard.

The skeleton looked at Klein and hissed as its armor was pierced. The grave guard then brought it's blade up in an upward swing, trying to take Kleins head. Klein ducked and withdrew his great sword. Then he stabbed again, this time he aimed for the grave guard's throat and decapitated it with the strike. Around him his fellow knights were taking on the other grave guard as they pressed into the vaults. The knights hacked and slashed, defending against the damnable fell blades of the grave guard. Then the deafening boom of a score of hand guns was heard from behind the knights as Adler's missile armed troops unleashed a volley into more grave guards.

"For Sigmar! Kill these undead bastards!" Adler then ordered his swordsmen forward, the horn from the Hochland Purgers sounded as they met with the oncoming undead. Shields met great swords as the imperials held the line against the undead. The swordsmen skill was on par with the knights as they blocked the blows of the undead while dishing out damage of their own. But when the blows the undead did eventually strike a bot it tore through his shield and into the arm below, or into an unprotected region of the man's body. The blade not only connected with the flesh and split bone but across the bot's face was pure horror as he screamed aloud as its worst programmed fears were realized.

But as Adler's swordsmen fell he moved up and the knights finished the last of the grave guard in the vaults. The knights then moved up to support the Hochland Purgers and pushed through the shield wall. While the state troops held the line, Adler and the knights broke through the grave guard. The witch hunters sword flashing in the darkness with his lamp leading the way. He slashed and dodged moving through the undead and when he broke through the grave guard he stabbed them in the back.

Klein and his knights fought through the last of the guard and then met with Adler. He was covered in dust and debris but was not pierced by the blades of the undead. He looked back and counted the knights and looked at the bars of health. He saw that there were slivers of health gone and a few knights were dead along with the state troops, but his friends were safe.

Adler then spoke to the younger man." Klein. This was just the grave guard, we are getting close to a boss or a mid-boss by now."

Klein then nodded and thought.' All these troops, they would just get in the way of a one on one fight. And I don't want to put my boys in any more danger…' He looked at Adler." I will go on alone."

To those words the Witch Hunter shook his head." No. You need someone who can DPS, you're a tank. I'm built against the undead, I'll be joining you kiddo."

Klein knowing an opportunity when saw a good choice didn't argue." Right, you follow me and the rest of you stay here." He then turned to back down the hall way and walked slowly with a torch in one hand and sword in the other, Adler following after him.

As the pair advanced down the hall way they saw dust being unsettled and pushed as a light began to form. Klein stopped it his tracks and readied his torch as if it was a mace." Banshee or Spirits?" He asked Adler.

The witch hunter then raised up his pistol and pulled the hammer back as the form started to take shape." Banshee, single body. Mid boss." He said as the banshee took form, he aimed at it with his pistol.

When the banshee was formed it was of a ghastly green glowing woman with gaunt cheeks. She looked at them and screamed loudly, hurting the pair's ears. But they kept their heads and didn't run nor did they lose any health. When the banshee's health bar appeared Adler shot her in the head and she lost a quarter of her health. As her ghostly eye was blow out and she was stunned, Klein charged forward and struck the banshee with the torch. More of her health was gone with each sliver of health caused by the torch impacting against the ethereal form. From behind Adler's halberdier's drummer and a Hochland singer preformed extremely loud acoustic version of 'Dragula.'

When the Bashee screamed at Klein his damage was not as severe as it would have been without the band player and only part of his bar was gone. He growled through the discomfort and then stabbed his torch into her mouth, her head catching fire. The from behind there was a flash of silver as adler leapt at the Banshee and with a stroke of his blade decapitated her. Her head and body faded away as a parting scream was heard, though none were harmed by it.

Adler holstered his long barreled pistol and then drew his multi-barrel revolver. Klein then moved on after the witch hunter had chosen the new pistol. He soon stood in front of a large copper door, on it was hammered copper bats and bat like faces turned green over the ages. Klein shared a knowing look with Adler." Vampire isn't?"

Adler nodded and said." Luckily not a named one from the table top. If that was the case then it wouldn't be a general decoration. There would be gold and other fancy decoration. I think we have a run of the mill vampire."

Klein looked back to the door." Aren't they on the same line as Grand Masters? I saw Weiss and three players take one down and it was hard fight and was a thrall." He told Adler.

The witch hunter nodded." That is true. At the same time though how long ago was that and what level was Weiss at?"

"Good point." Added Klein." Right, let's take him down. Same as with the banshee?"

Adler then raised up his leg." Close enough." He then slammed it forward and the door was kicked in.

What was revealed as the pair walked into the room was a well illuminated crypt. It was a circular structure with torching lining the room and in its center was a stone sarcophagus. As the two took positions on either side of the door the cover of the sarcophagus open and a pale hand emerged to push the cover off the crypt. Emerging from the sarcophagus a black cloaked figure stood with hardly any movement and then open his eyes. Fangs grew from his mouth as he looked at the fresh meat laid out before him.

Adler had a chuckled at the appearance." He has a fucking tuxedo. Man the dev's were lazy that day." He then pointed his pistol at the vampire and as the green bar appeared along with it's name 'Gorgman'. " Accusation!" Adler shouted and then fired a shot at the undead abomination. The creature dodged, in a blur of movement it moved to the wall to the right of the pair of humans. Then Gorgman charged at Klein, a sword appearing in its right hand. The knight held his sword in a high guard. The blade of the vampire impacted against Klein's steel sword and nearly cleaved it in twain.

Though the vampire blade bit into the sword it also could bite back. Klein then slashed at the vampire, the blade cutting into the beast's side. There was maybe half a percent of health lost from the bar. The vampire moved to attack again when Adler's pistol appeared over Klein's shoulder and he fired the blessed silver bullet into the shoulder of Gorgman, ten percent down from it's high point. The vampire recoiled and roared in pure anger. It then barreled into Klein and the knight's blade broke from the force of impact, as the heavily armored human barreled into Adler, knocking both over.

The vampire leapt onto Klein and in his free hand appeared a dark miasma. Gorgman then pressed the hand into Klein's exposed face. Klein screamed as he felt his face wrinkle and change, his health dropping by chunks. He drew his stiletto and stabbed into the vampires chest. Again more health dropped but not enough. Not nearly enough.

With enough room to just move his saber only up, Adler looked at the knight pinning him down and spoke. "Sorry buddy." Adler then stabbed through Klein's armor and his health appeared to go into the red. Klein screamed in surprise and saw both his health and the vampires dropping fast. Though the magical blade did more damage to the vampire. Adler reached around with both hands, having let go of his weapons, then gripped Gorgman's head and smashed it into the floor. There was hardly a sliver left of health left on the vampires bar. Klein wasn't far behind.

" Your *cough* stabbed me." Klein wheezed as blood dripped from his mouth. Adler looked at the Knight and said." You were dead if I didn't…." He viewed Kleins face and saw it was no longer that of young man but instead an older one in his late 70's.

'Damn I'm sorry son. I don't my healing spell can help and I don't have a dispel scroll.' He looked at the vampire and realized.' But there is a chance you'll survive this game but not this night.' He then kicked his saber out of Klein and grabbed Gorgman. He brought the vampire over to Klein and though the beast struggled Adler over powered it. He drew Kleins stiletto from the vampires chest.

"Sorry Klein. This is gonna suck." He grabbed the knight's hand and put the stiletto into it. He then used Klein's hand to stab into Gorgman's throat. Black and vile blood gushed from the killing blow as it filled in Klein's mouth and he was forced to swallow the vampires unlife.

The Knight coughed violently and his body spased as the last of his health disappeared. His eyed rolled back as the spasms ceased and his body grew limp. Adler through the vampires body to the side and said." Buddy, you're in for a hell of a hangover." He then picked Klein up and moved to the exit.

/

 **Altdorf, 9:00 AM**

All along the parade route NPC's and Non-Combatant Players lined the streets, watching, cheering and throwing confetti along with flowers. On the parade route over 60,000 soldiers marched from the northern gates, though the Koingplatz, over the grand bridge, through the square containing the Grand Temple of Sigmar and then finally pass the Emperor's Palace. They marched to old marching tunes as the British Grenadiers, Fredericus Rex, Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dixie (both of which had lyrics change to reflect the current world the players resided in).

At this moment leading the Imperial Artillery train were the three steam tanks of the Imperial Army Armored Corps, plodding along at the tune of Der Königgrätzer Marsch. Taking the lead was Fury with Sandy standing in the Cupola carrying the banner of Altdorf, a red banner with a black griffon across it. She smiled and waved to the crowds as they cheered on the steam tanks, she was wearing a pair of head phones which hardly impeded her flowing hair. Behind her and to the left was The Lions Roar with a rather sterner faced Katushya carrying Nuln's banner, a white lion across a black field.

Then finally to the back right of Fury was Ulric's Fist with Kazumi standing with the Banner of the White Wolf flying in her hands. The flag was a bright white wolf's head against a blue back ground, though freshly painted onto the side of the turret was white chibi wolf that sat with it's head tilted to the side a new addition. She was quite nervous and waved at the fellow players somewhat less enthusiastically then her fellow tankers. "Come on perk up." Came a voice in her ear from a head set.

Michele pulled her hands away from the far squeaker controls around her neck as she watched Kazumi jump at the voice in her ear. Michele went back to driving the tank and being sure to stay in formation. If she didn't then there was a chance the tank may spurt into the crowds ahead or one of the scores of artillery pieces behind her would crash into her tanks ass. Given the location of the boiler there was a fairly small chance she would make it out before the boiler exploded.

Kazumi waved more energetically and soon heard another voice. This time it was Sandy." Girls get ready we are almost at the VIP booth. When you pass the purple and yellow banners turn your heads left and salute." Kazumi looked a little futher on the route and saw the flag against the Grand Temple of Sigmar and next to the flag was the observation booth which seated the finely dressed and armored VIPs of the Imperial Army.

Kazumi straighten herself and as the tanks passed the flag she turned her head and saluted the VIP Booth. She could feel the eyes of the half dozen races observing her and she hoped they didn't notice her hand trembling. But as they passed by her commanders she saw that they greeted her with smiles and shared words she couldn't hear between the VIPs. When the group were passed the VIP booth Kazumi breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her hand. She turned her head back to the route ahead of her.

She knew what was at the end of it, the road to the north. The road which would lead to Marianburg and a path that would be trodden by tens of thousands of imperial soldiers.

Reck watched the tanks pass by and couldn't help but notice the female commanders in each of them. Intrigued by the sight he turned to Mortimer and asked." Why is it that you have only girls commanding the tanks?"

The Lector answered, continuing to look down at the ranks of Imperial Artillery rolling by on their limbers." It's actually a design flaw with the game. You see when Fury was unlocked it was by an average sized man, but the tank was designed to be an average sized man of the 16th century. He and fellow crewman couldn't fit in it so it fell to Sandy to take owner ship of the Tank. We then sent the news down to Nuln and Middenheim and they worked to level up their female engineers. Down in Nuln that was by having them work over time in the engineering section of the city and with Middenheim… well Kazumi from what I understand ran with the Outriders and maxed out her skill with gunpowder weapons, even with a swivel gun she managed to attach to a one horse limber."

Reck nodded." Outriding is a hard job with rouges and mobs roaming the roads and to do it with a cannon? We're damn lucky to have her on our side."

Steve answered before Mortimer could of." And we are lucky to have you on ours. Speaking of which how goes the movement of your troops?"

Reck snorted." A thousand each, that's all I can really muster. A thousand players to move to the north and a thousand to go to the south, roughly 20,000 bots each and plenty of big monsters to go along with them."

Steve looked content and looked back to the parade." Good, I'm going to need all the help I can get when going up against the Marianburgers. My bolter can be useful but a single gun isn't going to win the war."

/

 **Averland, 20 miles east of the Border with Nuln, 9:00AM**

"Don't move… don't move you son of bitch… die!" Likes Gaming then pressed the lighter to the sakers pin hole and with a 'whosh-boom' the cannon's muzzle engulfed in flame and smoke, pushing the gun back a yard. Oak watched the iron shot arc through the air and sail to the castle exactly 1,500 yards away. He watched as it made it's way down from it's high point and then impact against the gunner on the top most portion of the keep.

As the gunner exploded into red gory mist Oak exclaimed." Bang on Bombardier! Right let's get this baby ready to go again." He collapsed his telescope and then turned back to the Saker, Likes Gaming and the newest member of their team Delia. Delia had arrived the night before surprising him and the rest of his regiment, but after some words with Ikari she was allowed to stay with the regiment so long as she didn't interfere with the operation of the cannons. On the contrayer she had proved to be very helpful in that she helped move the gun back into position, poured water on it when it got to hot and was a morale booster for Oak.

Delia finished helping to move the gun into place with Likes Gaming and ran a hand across her forehead, wiping some sweat away. It was hard work working the guns for the past few hours in her armor and in her fur. It may have been late summer with autumn soon approaching but still the heat was rising as was working with gun powder. The men had opened their coats in the heat, allowing for some relief while if she did the same… well the effect would have been fairly distracting to the boys from her sweat drenched form. She looked to the castle and asked her fellow crew mates." It's a ruin now, how much longer are we going to be here?"

The castle was at one time a round structure with three layers of defensive walls getting ever higher till the keep was left leaving it the highest of all three. Over the past two hours of bombardment from the professional Brunswick Corps though there were close to 20 breeches in the walls and all but 3 guns in the fort continued to stubbornly fire. Those were from the main batteries of cannons, where's Likes Gaming and a few other crews were used more for glorified sniper work on enemy cannons. Furthermore the defenders were reduced to only a few score from both the cannons and fire from the musketry of the infantry, leaving only sporadic cracks of gun fire from the fortress.

Oak answered her and pointed to the lines of halberdiers and swordsmen formed up and marching to the castle, revealed from the pause in bombardment fire when the smoke lifted." As soon as the foot sloggers mop up we'll be moving onto another castle or town. Depends on what the bosses want to take next. Like that border fort we took last night… well my old 'reg did." Said Borderfort was taken last night with the Imperial Green Jackets launching a raid and fighting their way through in a surprise and took it without a single player causality. Bot's did fall but considering they could be replaced fairly easily they were not missed.

Oak then set about getting a powder charge as Delia Looked out onto the fields below. Her enhanced eyes looked over the human state troops but also to something else." Why are there engineers working on trench lines?" She looked back.

After Likes Gaming finished cleaning the barrel, Oak set the powder charge to the muzzle. As the teenager rammed the powder charge down the barrel Oak answered." It's for when we need to get back to Nuln. That's a clear field of fire we can use to slow up any of your ex countrymen." Likes Gaming went back to rear of the gun to prime the charge and Oak said." Right back to business darling, clear the muzzle and get the bucket ready to cool down the gun." Oak ran to get the round shot as Delia retrieved a new bucket of water. Bots under control of Oak and Likes Gaming fetched fresh buckets of water to help keep the gun. Without the buckets the gun could over heat, bend or if there was a charge in the barrel then it could explode in a devastating explosion.

Delia went to the line of the bots and took a bucket from a 10 powder monkey, pressed into fetching buckets from a nearby steam. As she took it from the bot she heard the boy speak." Here you go Miss Delia. Tell Bombardier Likes Gaming to get those Averlanders good."

Every strand of fur on Delia's body stood up in that moment. When the bot spoke he did so like a real child and the words he said were not at all like the preprogramed adulations to Sigmar or generic curses. She was about to say something to him when she heard the cannon belonging to her love go off. It broke her out of her trance and she went back to him with the bucket in her hands, yet still she felt her body waver as she realized.' He… he knew who we were.'

/

 **The Moot, outside of Eicheschatten, 12:23 PM**

Duncan found the march fairly eerie passing through the moot and now the outskirts of the capitol city of the Halflings. The Halfling boots had been shadowing his army, a combined force of Orcs and Averlanders, since last night. There were well over 7,000 bots in his army now with the infusion of the orcs, that should of made the halberdier sergeant feel safe… but still it didn't.

Marching through the night he felt the eyes of hundreds of short beady eyed hobbit's on him, though he couldn't see them out right and even if he did see something it would be from the corner of his eye. It felt as though the rest of the moot was waiting and watching for the opportune moment to strike against his force. Which was strange because bots were not supposed to think like that… then again it could be his mind playing tricks on him.

As his own column passed by Eicheschatten he felt his balls crawl up into his body. The entire Averlander/Orc force passed by not only the Halfling's capitol but also a rather large army of the hobbits. Numbering at least ten thousand the army of Halflings were gathered outside of the capitol in some semblance of order. They were divided up into dozens of regiments, some were mounted while others wore heavy armor and carried great weapons in a parody of Imperial Greatswords. They were not all militia, or even Halflings with a few dozen being Ogres into their own regiment.

Instead of attacking like their cousins did the day before in mass charges, they just stood, waited and watched the passing army. Given that the PLA was better equipped and possessing of giants, cannons and a device the orcs had cooked up called a 'war rig' that would of given a player a pause. Bots on the other hand? That was just unnatural.

The glares he also received felt fairly unnerving like they knew what the Averlanders did, rather than what they could have done. He didn't feel any guilt about what he did back in that Hobbiton clone, but he felt a lot of collective emotion from the bots. He averted his gaze from the Halfling's. He set about to keep on marching to the east. It was a fight he was looking forward to, as well as the orcs who were especially gungho about hunting down the stunties in Sylvania. At least they would be out of the Moot and away from the halflings.

The army soon stopped though in front of the city and Duncan could see the problem. A column of skaven had come join up with them and now they had arrived. He could see the rat men making their way to the column and let them pass by. But on the players faces he could see they were clearly scared of something. Duncan called out to one of them, this player was armed with a jezzail." What's up, you look like you saw a ghost."

Wizzel looked at Duncan with tried eyes." We heard howling all through the night while we marched here. No fighting, no sight of beastmen, we only… we only heard the howling." Then he moved on. Jumping into a wagon and setting his soldiers to follow David while he set about getting some sleep.

Soon the column was moving again and Duncan was more concerned than before.' Howling yet no beastmen. The hell is going on with this game?'

/

 **Sylvania,** **Stoodhof, 1:30 PM**

Roshi looked at the oncoming wagons and knights with a serious grimace. Next to her was Weiss, Desiree, Kirito and Kurt wearing similar expressions of displeasure. Ahead of them the knights in service to Weiss rode at the head of the column while coming up behind was a column of several score wagons, and a giant at the end of the column, with a group of players at its head. Weiss handled the knights when they rode up so he could talk to him, while Roshi walked with the other non-humans to the front of the wagon. She had them all put on their best armor and she had decided to wear her own helmet which covered her face save for the eye holes.

She spoke aloud and directly to Adler, ignoring the other players." Herr Adler, I want to ask you what in the hell possessed you to stab one of my knights and highest ranked Imperial NCO in the back?" Her voice was that of a pleased woman but just barely contained anger.

Adler bowed slightly and tipped his hat to her." Frau Rin I can only say that at the time it was either both of us or a vampire who would of taken both of our lives and most likely more players. I will admit that it was a split decision and a hard one but considering the alternative of certain death I hope you can forgive me."

Roshi then decided to make Adler squirm by not saying a word in English, but rather speak to her constituents in Khazalid." Doh umgi, thagha Klein. Un ek surrey. Surreyor skrund bote smakanu darsaz!" There was chuckling from Kirito, Kurt and Desiree as the words translated to them and not to the humans.' He back stabbed Klein. And he says he sorry. I'm sorry I have to stick a boot up his arse!"

The laughing though was cut short when Adler replied in near perfect Khazalid." Kleinit azul grom umgi. Surrey aggan. Or can ad offa throgi dammaz." Or in the English tongue.' Klein was a reliable and brave warrior. Again sorry. All I can offer is my army for grudge.'

6 different heads shot a look of confusion at him, including Tatianna and Rusty, though Argo just took the revelation with an unsurprised gander. Roshi asked." How do you know my language? It doesn't auto translate for human players."

Adler cracked a smile." I learned it IRL with Grudgelore and in the game. I will admit there are no subtitles and my wording can use some refinement but I think it gets the point across." He then pointed to the back of his wagon." Also I brought Klein as well and he needs a burial." There was a simple pine box in the back of the wagon, unadorned with no markings." It's a little gesture but trust me when I say I respect what you are doing and I do not want to insult any of you." He spoke in a serious tone as he held the gaze of Roshi.

Roshi stared at him a little longer to gauge his face to make sure he was not lying. She saw no reason not to believe him and took off her helmet." Welcome to the Silver Seekers. You may dismount your troops from the wagons and have them join up with Weiss's forces. That includes your skaven and beastmen friends."

Kirito then narrowed his eyes at Adler and smirked with a wide elfish grin." Make sure not to camp to close to us or the knights. Klein was friends with most of us here and it would be a shame if we found you fallen on your sword…."

The dwarfen commander pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed." I don't think we need to give our new ally any more reasons to back stab us."

To that Adler sighed and nodded." Yes ma'am. I came down here to help your army not to hinder it. I'm sorry about the bad first impression and I hope to make up for it."

While Adler was talking Argo was looking through her messages and after Adler finished speaking she said." And he'll have a good opportunity soon. There is a PLA force about to reach the eastern border of the moot and enter Sylvania."

Roshi turned her head back to the skaven woman." How do you know this?"

Argo said while keeping her eyes on the messages." I'm the great and knowledgeable Argo of the Daily Argo. I've got sources in PLA territory and they inform me of certain events."

Roshi bit her lip and felt the stares of the elves and Desiree fall back onto her. She answered deftly." I'll inform Weiss and we'll be having a conversation with you later today. We won't be lingering here for very long if that is the case.

Adler then spoke up." I'll be joining Argo soon. I need to see to it that Klein is buried right away if we are to be leaving soon."

Kurt then said to Adler, a confused expression on what portions of his face that were visible under his helmet." His body should of pixelated by now… and why are you so insistent on burring him."

Adler looked at Kurt and spoke." He needs to have a burial, its only proper I dig his grave since I did technically kill him and the reason why is because he was cursed at the end of our boss battle."

Roshi waved him off." Do your rituals but be quick about it. Weiss will want to talk to you about what your role will be in our army."

Adler tipped his hat again." Thank you ma'am. Tati I need your help." The pair dismounted the wagon and got to work.

/

Less than a half hour later the pair walked into Stoodhof's inn, which was serving as a defacto command center for the expedition. Tatianna and Adler saw the command table which sat the welcoming committee from earlier, with Roshi at it's head and the older German at her right with Argo to Roshi's left. Tatianna took her seat at the opposite end to Roshi and Adler took his seat to her right. Tatianna said to Weiss." On behave of the beastmen I apologize for my fiancée's actions earlier today." She was not pleased with what he did and even less so that they had to spend the past 20 minutes digging a shallow grave at a crossroads. She may not of paid much attention to rituals back home but she knew when an action was disrespectful. This was surprising since she knew her future husband was one to go to church and speak of respecting the dead.

Adler spoke up." And I would like to apologize for my actions as well. From what I understand herr Klein was with you from the start of the game and a loyal man."

Weiss leaned back and said with a partial look of displeasure." After the war is over with Averland I expect you Adler not to set foot in Stirland again. Until then I will work with you to defeat the PLA. Are we understood?"

Adler spoke with respect." Crystal clear sir."

"Good." Weiss said and then turned to Argo." Rin has told me that you have information on the Averlanders moving through the moot."

Argo then unfolded a map of the eastern Empire and pointed to the moot land." My sources have told me a force of about 8 thousand bots and over 150 players are making their way to Sylvania. The army was passing by Eicheschatten about an hour ago **.** The army itself is a mix force of Averlanders, mostly Orcs and a few skaven. The orcs apparently have something called War Rigs."

Every male gamer over the age of twenty, Desiree and Roshi looked at Argo with different levels of concern. Tatianna could read the expression and asked." What are War Rigs? I never heard of them in the game."

Kurt spoke up." They are not from this game, it's not even a 40K item. It's straight out of Mad Max." He looked at Argo and then said." Is it steam or gas powered?"

Argo shook her head." My contact didn't say what it was powered with suffice to say it has room for at least one siege engine on it and there are swivel guns on it along with plenty of spikes. But it's positively orcish in creation."

" That depends on if it has red paint on it or not. Since the red ones go faster." That got a chuckle from Adler and Weiss continued." I have an idea that these War Rigs are in fact War Wagons, but how different they are from the original designs we'll see soon." He looked over the map and then said. They will be over the border in a few hours."

Roshi had a personal map open, a detailed version of Sylvania, she added her own thoughts." There is a watch tower we can march to tonight. After that we can lure the Averlanders south and fight them here."

Weiss and the other officers nodded, including Adler and Argo. That was except for Tatianna. She looked at the map then Roshi." You need to draw them south though and make it impossible for them not to come our direction. I see another path they can take and without them knowing which way to go they could wander off in the wrong direction and we have to fight them no longer on a place of our choosing."

Adler leaned over and whispered to his fiancée." That was fun class. Speaking of which do you still have that school girl uniform I gave you?"

"Later. Later." She pushed him away with a coy smile on her face. Adler smirked and sat back in his chair.

Roshi nodded." That we will. It will require some skirmishing though and a few other surprises we have."

Kirito looked at the map." Where they will be in a few hours… it will require fast riders to get their attention and escape." He was excited since he knew who would be required to for that mission.

Roshi nodded." Indeed. Silith will take the lead, Kirito and Kurt you'll be following him. Kurt bring your Silver Helms and Reavers, but leave the dragon princes here. I'll have the A2-C2 meet up with you at the Fire Marshes and you can use that to cause plenty of chaos and get the Averlanders coming to the south."

That was when the fur covered hand of Argo rose and a knowing smile appeared on Adler's face. When Roshi acknowledged the ratwoman Argo spoke to the group." To really make sure that the Averlanders come after us I would recommend that you send Adler along with your elves and make sure he gets their attention specifically on them."

Before there could be any protest Weiss preemptively interrupted them." I know herr Adler via reputation. Last year we had the same position as rebels and I know what he did in the uprising. He is hated by the PLA and if they know he is in the field they will hunt him down. The same way the orcs want nothing more than to get their hands on the Silver Seekers. I will allow Adler to travel with the elves."

Adler nodded." Thank you sir. I leave my troops in your care then." He then opened his menu and Weiss did as well. He then transferred himself to Weiss's command with his soldiers under his command if only temporary.

Roshi spoke as the transfer was being taken off." Kurt, Kirito show Adler to Silith and see to it you send in Weiss's, Sanjay and my own sub commanders. We need to discuss our plans for tomorrows actions."

Kurt and Kirito stood and Adler leaned over to hug Tatianna." Be sure to look after Rusty." Adler said to her.

She pat Adlers back." I will." She let him go and Adler stood and joined the two elves.

As Kirito and Kurt led Adler through the camp, Adler could feel the glares from the various players.' Welp I guess this is Role Playing, when you're a witch hunter you're supposed to get all sorts of evil glares….' He then said aloud with a smile across his face to the two honor guards." So who is this Silith person?"

Kurt gave a curt reply." He's a dark elf sorceress who is a guy."

Adler nodded." I see so he decided to play as female and got his gender mixed up then at the start of the game." He then looked ahead to the elf encampment. He could see there were about 6 more elven players of dark and light verity. He saw a dark elf who-

Adler ran forward past his honor guard and shouted." Dude! Coop!"

Silith turned to the voice. He had since up graded his gear to include a staff in addition to his khain blessed daggers, he also now wore a heavy leather cloak to protect his back. Cooper saw Adler and shouted." Ruffy!"


	7. Vanguards

**Disclaimer: See first chapter.**

 ***Sits down with cup of cider. Proceeds to look at reviews across all 3 stories. Then proceeds to do a spit take***

 **Holy crapola! That's a lot of reviews! And not enough chapters from me… I love hate school. Well any way here is the long overdue next chapter. Both one year since the last post and also oddly enough the launch day of Total War Warhammer!**

 **Alright I must say thank you Artic Knight for all of your kind words.**

 **Secondly thank you CMVreud! I appreciate every review you've made.**

 **To the guest: Well here it is.**

 **Also Folks be on the lookout for a future recursive fanfiction about the WAO series. Soon as it is done I'll tell you who it is done by and what is about. Till then keep an eye out on updates. And I've been wanting to use the song in this chapter for so long.**

/

 **Sylvania, 5:35 AM 11th of September**

Duncan was the sergeant on watch for his regiment. His men along with the other regiments in the expedition army were camped outside of Hankern. He had a squad of halberdiers on watch in the early morning. They were gathered around a fire and awaited the morning call to muster. After a night of hearing howling in the distance the entire army was on edge, but other then some wolves the men were able to sleep.

Duncan's boys were passing around a wine skin and talking amongst each other. One of his men, a transfer from the 62'd Halberdiers spoke up after receiving the wine skin." So, after we take care of these stunties and their traitor cronies. What are the chances we'll fight our ways to dwarfen lands. After all it's going to be a dry spell in Slyvania with only skeletons with no meat on their bones and I heard them dwarf babes are curvy."

There was a chuckle from around the fire and the wine skin was passed again. This time to a veteran who had been with the regiment." Course knowing you sick fucks, you'll try to screw some undead zombie ass out here." There was heavy laughter.

From one of the men surrounding the fire, who spoke with a New England accent." It won't be just dwarfs and humans you need to be fighting but also elves. Those bastards are quick on their feet."

Duncan waved off the comment." Eh, thems elves are to flashy. We would see them from a mile off and shoot them down by the time they get into bow shot." The wineskin was passed to the New England accented man and Duncan squinted his eyes to look at him though the fire." Wait a minute your not part of the regiment." He could see the stranger was wrapped up in dark clothing.

The New Englander chugged the wine skin. He lowered it and the group could see he was wearing the broad brimmed cap of a witch hunter. His eyes hidden, though his rusty colored burnsides were not. A smile cracked across the man's face, a wolfish grin." Aayup, I ain't from your regiment or from any other AverFuckerLander regiment. The names Adler, the Golden Wolf." The men inched to their weapons as Adler finished talking." Oh, also boys your in range of the elf arrows." Before they could react, Adler threw a grenade into the fire pit. It wasn't lit, but with the flames that wouldn't be much of a problem. He then rolled backwards twice and laid down as the Averlanders scrambled to their weapons.

Then from the firepit came a loud." BOOM!" As the grenade exploded, sending shrapnel flying from the pit and waking up the army. The force of the explosion knocking down the watch and killing two with the shrapnel, while injuring the rest. Adler rolled upright and started to book it the way he came. He ran past the bodies of the bots his elven comrades had eliminated. As he ran to his horse, elven arrows and pistol shots rang out in the early morning as the raid got underway.

Ducan screamed in shock, though he couldn't feel any pain he could feel the discomfort, numbness and the tears in his face as the metal from the bomb had embedded itself in his flesh and bone. He had lost a decent chunk of health but it was a non-life threatening injury. Still it sucked to get a grenade blast to the face. Around him the camp sprung to life as horsemen rode through it, firing off pistols, shooting bows and tossing grenades into fire pits. All around him bots fell as their commanders awoke and started to issue orders.

At the same time Adler reached his horse and galloped to the west of the camp, it well out of musket range. There was a rise that was going to get hit by the sun and he needed to be there to make the show complete. Though his comrades had done a good job of stirring up the hornets' nest after his own small contribution to the chaotic scene below.

The scene below was coming to its climax as the horsemen rode through the camp and out of it. The bots were getting organized and there was return musketry now. The men and elves charged out of the camp and away onto the road next to the town. Only a small contingent riding to where Adler had pulled his horse to a stop, this contingent was led by Cooper and Kirito. Quickly Adler pulled out a large, paper encased bomb. He then lit the fuse and threw it about as far from him as possible. Away from his incoming comrades.

The bomb exploded and there was a great flash. The sound of the bomb as loud as a pair of cannons firing at the same time, and getting the attention of the entire camp below. With Adler giving the signal Cooper raised up his staff and within a moment concentrated magic formed around his staffs head. He shot a smoke cloud above Adlers head.

The cloud took form into a cartoonish version of Adler, which was bent over and mooning the entire camp below, with the smoke figure having a troll face as it looked back. Below the giant smoky figure was also the words." Fuk U, From Adler!" Rufus Adler was on the rise and giving the PLA a double one finger salute as he shouted obscenities at them.

The PLA took offense to that and there was a fusillade of gun fire shooting at Adler and his elven comrades. The shots were wild though and given that these handguns were at best smoothbore firelocks, all the shots missed their targets. The message was set though and Adler then nodded to his Dark Elven companions and started to ride back down south. The elves following after him.

/

Within the camp Riders were mounting up. Jeremy had his pistoliers mounted on their horses and he changed out of his bed clothes to his armor. He was not ready to leave just yet, instead he needed to find David and get some real orders so as to not go gallivanting off without having any idea what the rest of the army would be doing. He found David talking to the Orcish commander, Jeremy took up an at ease stance behind David and waited.

David spoke to the orc." Yes yes. I know you want to deploy the war rig, but we can't rely on it right now. Its useful against infantry and the like, so we should keep it back in the main column. The boar boyz are more than welcome to hunt down the raiders though."

The orc raged." And if this turns into a trap and they've got Infantry waiting for us at the next pass? Or hidden in some woods. We need that War Rig to keep mah boar boyz safe incase we need to retreat!"

David crossed his arms." Think of the long term though, the dwarfs have weaponry of their own. Better cannons and even some flyers. We need to keep our advantages with the main force. Not to mention the War Rig has no chance to catch up."

The orc yelled and stamped his massive tree trunk of a leg." Fuck you Empire Boy! Fuck you and your logic!" He continued to rage and shout.

David though took the shouting and raging until the orc was panting. It was during this time that David had turned and noticed that Jeremy was behind him. The colonel raised up his hand after the orc was finished." Good to see that you agree to my logic." He then turned to David and motioned for him to step forward.

The pistoliers did so and David spoke to the orc." This pistolier and his men will travel with you and your orcs as support. The War Rig will stay back here as we march to the south. You have your orders, you are dismissed and happy hunting." The orc stormed off his feet stomping as he made his way to the mount.

David watched the spectacle and spoke to Jeremy." This is a trap. I hate that bastard Adler, those traitors I'll see in hell and I couldn't care less about those dwarfs. But I know when I'm being led by a carrot. What that dog did though was to draw us out and have us make a mistake." He then nodded to the orc." When they become committed retreat back to the main column."

Jeremy spoke." Of course sir. Soon as they get their asses in the fire. I'll be running the opposite direction, at your orders of course."

David grunted." Go and take care of it." He told the pistolier before leaving.

Jeremy then ran and mounted his horse. With his fellow riders in tow he rode to the orcish commander. The orc gave a grunt and then spurred his 500 boar boyz onto a road to the south. At the same time Jeremy was sure to keep his men back about a hundred yards on the road. Though they had to ride through pig shit, it was a better alternative than being at the head of a cavalry charge.

/

After about 2 hours of riding away through the western portion of Sylvania, to the west being the Fallow Hills and to the east the Fae Marshes, Kirito's horse was at the end of its stamina along with the other horses after driving them for so long. The horses, and in fact most other animals in the warhammer world were much hardier than their real world counter parts. They could be ridden for hours before having to rest, but still they had their limits before collapsing. Given that the raiding force had been riding through the night then had to gallop away after the raid was completed, even the elven horses were near their breaking point.

Even though they were being pursued, Kirito knew they had to stop. He raised up one of his swords at the head of the column and shouted." Halt!" First the bots, then the players came to a stop. Cooper and Adler rode up to him, the latter speaking to the teenager." So, we gonna rest up here?"

The dark elf corsair nodded." That we are. I'm going to call in the A2-C2 as well to give us enough warning about our pursuers."

Adler looked somewhat confused." A2-C2? Is that like an AT-AT?"

Cooper chuckled." Nah, this is a lot cooler." He then pointed to the sky and explained what it was and Adler had to admit, it sounded awesome.

/

Sitting at about 5,000 feet above the raiders the A2-C2 engines chugged as the propellers turned, keeping it stable. The A2-C2 moniker was the shorten name of the Aerial Air Craft Carrier, an airship. The airship shared many traits with a real world zeppelin in that it had a few helium bags inside a super structure and covered in a double layer of silk canvas. But where a real world airship is had a long tube to act as a crew compartment and passenger bay. The A2-C2 had instead a re-purposed ship's hull beneath it. The ship was wide and had a shallow berth which would of made it hard to control on the ocean, but given that the ship was never to sail on the water the decision to go with the widening had allowed for more weight to shed from the airship as a whole and had allowed a greater range for it to travel. The ships propellers turned with a low chug and with a few wisps of smoke emerging from the exhaust vents. The engines were powered with a cross of kerosene steam engines and dwarfen runes of magnetism helped drive the shaft which turned the propellers with a force that the steam engines would have been impossible to match by themselves.

The ship had a pair of rigs, one on each side which would normally have gyro-bomber attached to it. Those two bombers were currently circling and awaiting the orders to strafe the upcoming PLA forces, their pilots just waiting for the orders to arrive. The rigs instead contained 9 bombs, on 3 rows apiece. These bombs were called 'Mother Clusters' or as the technicians who developed them called them, which was gaining popularity with the armorers and mechanics who maintained them, 'Cluster Fucks'. In addition to the bombers and the bombs there was also an organ gun at the aft and the bow to provide some rapid fire assistance. Then there was the crew's personal weaponry which consisted of repeaters.

The ship's hull was painted purple with a trim of red, the usual Zhufbar colors, with a gold figure head of Grimnir holding out twin axes. At the bow in bright gold lettering was the ship's name, ' _Grimnir's Fire_ '. Along the deck bombardiers, deck crews and mechanics scurried and worked on various machines, made sure the deck guns were in proper order or readying another load of bombs. This type of work was done only by players, since bots were not trusted with the fine machinery that humans had created within the confines of the game world.

At the aft of the vessel standing next to the helm was the captain of the ship. Dordi wore a leather bombers jacket with a Rune of Furnace emblazed on its back. His head with a bombers helmet and he wore his goggles to protect his eyes. Back in the beta he was able to rise up to control a gyro-copter, this experience helped him as being one of the few individuals who could teach other players how to pilot the dwarfen helicopters. Within a few months there were several squadrons of gyrocopters trained up as part of the Skyhammers and Dordi was then put in command of the A2-C2's. _Grimnir's Fire_ being the first fully functioning A2-C2, there were other vessels but they served as prototypes and were being repurposed for larger prototypes for even bigger vessels.

As it stood this was the first combat mission for the A2-C2's and Dordi was ready. There were four observers around the ship with large telescopes to keep their eyes out for enemy movement below. One of them shouted lifting up an arm." Sir! Large dust cloud with boar boyz at the head of it. Their fanning out along the road and looks like their getting ready to charge the elfs below."

Dordi nodded, he then said to the helmsman." Bring us to 500 yards north of the raiders and set to hover on the road, shift our altitude to 2,000 feet ." The helmsman saluted and turned on the throttle before turning the wheel to the north, another hand pulling a level to direct the ship downward. Dordi then walked to the railing on the aft, he then spoke to the rest of the crew." Bombardiers prepare for bombing run. Drop when you can cause maximum casualties." The Bombardiers sprung to action and went to the rigs containing the Mother Clusters.

Dordi opened his menu and sent out a pair of messages to his gyro-bombers.' Get close to _Grimnir's Fire_ , when you see the bombs drop start your bombing runs.' He then stood and waited to hear the release of clasps from the bomb rigs.

/

Jeremy watched the orcs fan out on the road ahead and directed his pistoliers to the west on the orcs right flank to the base of the hills. He didn't want to follow right behind the orcs any more, now that they were about to start their attack he wanted to make it look like he was about to flank the raiders, while in reality he wanted to be sure he had an route of escape. He watched the orcs a few hundred yards up ahead, the bots yelling aloud in their crude tongue.

Then suddenly they were committed with a unified 'Waaaggghhhh!' charging dead on to the awaiting raiders who just sat upon their horses with their ranged weapons, awaiting the orcs. Jeremy smelled a rat, and there wasn't a single skaven within 20 miles of him.' Fuck it's a trap, the poor bastards.' He then raised his fist up and brought his horse to a stop.

Before he could shout an order to halt, the Mother Clusters landed amongst the orcs. The Mother Clusters were not single bombs, instead there were a dozen different incendiary bombs in a single canister of Mother Cluster. When the Mother Cluster was dropped it tail fins spun it. When the canister spun fast enough the outer casing would break off at about 500 feet above the earth, as was normal for bomb when dropped from 2,000 feet. The incendiary's would have a string which would be torn off from the Mother Cluster, activing a friction primer in the mini bombs. The friction primer then would lite a fuse and in 8 to 9 seconds it would explode in 10 yard circle of flaming death. There were 18 Mother Clusters dropped from _Grimnir's Fire_ , each carried 12 incendiary bombs. In a matter of a few seconds over 200 incendiaries struck the orc Boar Boyz and essentially bathed the entire center of the cavalry line in flame. Where there were over 500 boar boyz, there were now 400 scorched and burnt boars and their riders. Many of the survivors were also scorched, yet still they charged out through the smoke, though close to breaking.

"Holy shit!" Jeremy felt the fires of the many explosions and his horsemen's mounts reared back and neighed. Jeremy got control of his horse and turned it around, he saw the hell that was unleashed and wanted no more part of this." Lets get the fuck out of here. Turn around run now, run!" He spurred his horse back to the road.

Behind him the raiders spurred their own horses forward, their bows and pistols firing into the remaining orcs along with the lances of the silver helms being lowered. There was a sudden crash and the raiders exploded past the remains of the orcs and broke them. The combination of the bombs and the final blow of the raiders breaking them. But still there was more.

The gyro-bombers swooped down on the retreating pistoliers, dropping bombs on the column at about 200 feet above them. These were black powder explosives that had quicksilver primers, an experimental version of early primers from the 19th century. Only half of these bombs exploded but as they did they tore through the light armor of the pistoliers. The pistoliers though were not without their own defense though. They drew their wheel lock pistols and issued forth a salvo at the strafing bombers. Most of the shots impacted the hulls of the bombers, but one shot hit a bomb on the tail of a gyro. The entire back of the bomber exploded and the pod containing the pilot tumbled forward in a dozen spins before crashing into the dirt of the road. The pilot being decapitated from his dashboard.

The remaining bomber flew away back to the mother ship to deliver the news and refit. At the same time Adler and the Raiders rode up to the bomber purist of the pistoliers. Adler unleashed the reaming rounds in his flintlock revolver, the shots missed but were a hell of a way to send off the PLA. Adler and the raiders slowed down after passing the bomber, before stopping.

Kirito rode up to Adler, who was reloading his pistols and letting his horse rest." That'll give us a good 10 minutes before they reorganize, given how fast they were riding away. If we keep at a decent gallop we will be able to outrun them back to the army. At least we don't have to worry about the horses dying from under us."

Adler looked up at the elf." Ayyup." Then he looked up to the clouds where _Grimnir's Fire_ was most likely hovering and added." That airship is the most dangerous thing, outside of the 40k weaponry, I've seen in this world. Even on the table top it was never that dangerous." He shrugged." Then again I'm not surprised, give someone with the know how the proper tools, even if it's in a fantasy verse, and they could eventually make most anything that doesn't have a 'puter chip." He then had an knowing smirk on his face." It maybe the 16th century, but 20th century just came a knocking."

/

 **Averland, 50 miles East of the Nuln border, 9:20 AM**

Along the tree line they awaited. Facing east, the cannons were set up and aimed along the road, which ran through their forest, and the opposing tree line half a mile away. They had been moved into position the night before and fortified though the night. Behind the tree line trees were cut down to become barriers and as platforms for the guns to easily be rolled up to the barricades. Behind the barricades were several regiments of state troops in the green and black of Brunswick Corps, and behind them the artillery horses and limbers for the cannons. Then there was the small detactment of Skaven Far Squeker operators and their own wagons, who sent radio reports back to Nuln and would in turn be sent back to Altdorf to Central Command.

The 1st Imperial Horse Artillery were awaiting their orders. They had their lighters lit, bots ready to push the guns, their positions prepared to give and receive fire. But the human players were relaxing now. They were drinking wine from waterskins, nibbling on their rations, or having light conversation. They had some time before the enemy arrived, why send it bent over sights hours on end. After all it wasn't like they were going to be there long. In addition to the rounds they had in the guns, there were also 3 more rounds of shot and one of grape ready to be loaded safely behind each gun. The rest of the ammunition were safely in the ammunition carts and caissons behind the infantry regiments.

While the members of the regiment were relaxing, one of soldier's lover's on the other hand was doing something unusual. Delia was going from bot team to bot team and giving them small treats or a swig of wine. Though Oak was In a conversation with Likes Gaming about some WW2 stories he had heard through the years, he was looking at his girlfriend from time to time. He was watching and listening to how each of the bots thanked her for her gift.

Likes Gaming noticed his gunner mate's eyes wandering to his woman. and asked." Was she like that when you two first met?" The kid took a drink of the weak wine, part of the rations they were given, as he listen to Oak.

The Sergeant Major tore his eyes from his girl back to the teenager." To be honest no. But then again when we first met I was covered in blood and she was a single woman looking after a bunch of kids. When we first met she was shivering, a mix of fear and cold I reckon." He snorted." I know what you're talking about though. She was great with them kids, after we got her set up into Nuln with the kids she would try to treat them right and do the best for them. Not to different from what she's doing with the bots right now." He ran his left hand through his hair." And I'm finding it weird that she's treating them to snacks. I mean their digital critters so…." He shook his head and let the conversation drop.

After a moment of silence when Likes Gaming didn't pursue the conversation, he may have been young and a bit of a jerk but he knew when to drop a conversation, Oak spoke up and said." Right back to it. Any way this American tank platoon and German infantry company were holding this castle against an SS Battalion-"

After finishing his story and starting another one, Oak saw that Delia was walking back to his gunnery position. He stood and walked to her." Hey darlin' mind if we have a couple of minutes alone?"

Delia answered immediately." Of course." After she spoke Oak offered his arm, and his woman took it.

Oak walked with Delia at a decent pace so they passed the gunnery positions without the other artillerists being able to listen in on the conversation. Oak spoke to his love." Darlin', I gotta ask why are you handing out them treats to the NPCs? I could see they were pastries." Which from a fair market price was a gold piece, due to it being a better tasting dish than a tankard of beer and a loaf of black bread." Why are you wasting your gold?"

Delia didn't stumble, but she was silent for a moment, gathering her words." I'm not wasting my money as much as I am rewarding the NPCs. They are talking to me like… well no not like a player, they are talking to me as if they were real people who lived and worked in this world all their lives. No it's not part of their scripting before you ask. I can the difference between a 'the tavern is that way'." She then pointed off in a random direction as one of a town guard would do." And some one saying 'thank you for getting that water for me Miss Delia'. They remind me of my kids back in Altdorf and when they did a good job I always got them a treat."

Oak listened to her words. He took in her words and processed them.' So the AI in the bot's are getting better then? Considering the hell we are going through and the crazy situation, I'm inclined to believe her.' He thought to himself. Oak replied to his love's word's only a few seconds after she finished speaking." Alright I'll take your word for it darlin', I not all that surprise that bot's are getting smart, considering were in a world that may just kill us all. Just there are two things I want you to keep in mind."

Delia was relieved that Oak believed her and she replied in a positive tone." Thank you for believing me love. But what is that you want me to keep in mind?" Her tail was swinging back and forth as she talked.

Oak ran his free hand through his hair and sighed." Alright keep on giving out them sweets when you want, but I'd prefer it if you stuck to my gun crew and Like's Gaming's crew as well. I don't want trouble with the rest of the regiment because the players are sensitive about their crews. It takes a while to train them up. The second thing is that I don't want you over spending on them. They may be talking more like us as you been saying, but I don't want you to spend your vacation funds on them. " He also added silently to himself in his thoughts.' And I don't want the boy's laughing behind your back because your doing something that we think is crazy.'

Delia nodded as she walked." I'll keep that in mind love."

Oak smiled and then wrapped his arm around her properly and kissed her on the cheek." Thank's for listening darlin'." As the pair were walking themselves back to their gun positions, he heard the drums of the regiment beat out an order.' Back to your guns!' What artilierists there were who weren't at their guns, like Oak, ran back to his Saker, and those already at their positions quickly put away their foodstuffs.

Next to him on his own gun was Like's Gaming, while walking behind him was Fish who was speaking to his regiment." Averlander's are coming this way. Pistoliers about a thousand strong with a strong force of spears and crossbowmen are coming up behind. Remember first shot is solid so lead your targets, second shot is solid. If I don't say hold your fire, get that grape all loaded up and unleash hell at 40 yards." He barked out the orders that were went over the night before." Remember don't leave ya gun's till I give the order to run."

Delia was getting the limber ready for her man's Saker, she was also let in on the plan by Oak after last night's briefing. When they gave the order, the guns would be pulled away and be sent to the next defensive positions several miles back. To the flanks of the sakers, hand gunners and riflemen moved up to take positions and prepared to unleash their volley's. These state troops were equipped with the more expensive flintlocks and wore dark green or black uniforms, thus were better camouflaged in the tree line than the more colorful troops of the other states would have been.

The Brunswick Corps heard their pistolier's long before they could see them. They could hear the thunder of hooves, the crack of pistol's and the whines of horses. Breaking from the tree line across the field, and emerging on the road, the Nuln pistoliers appeared at last. They rode in a formation 3 wide, taking up only half of the road. The pistoliers of Nuln were not like the shiny breast plate wearing horsemen of most of the other states of the empire. Instead they were more in line with the hussars of the Napoleonic age, with tall fur covered hats with deathshead skull's emblazoned on the front and flashy black and silver coats, which covered their chainmail shirts. They may not have been as armored as generic pistoliers, but the flintlock pistols they carried were of a better quality than the wheel locks of the fresh out of the barrack stock type.

As the Brunswick's Corp's Pistoliers thundered down the road, a few hundred yards behind them the Averlanders chased after the Nulnites, their formation four wide. These pistoliers were much easier to differentiate because of their shining breastplates, bright plums, shirts and pants. All of their cloth and plums being of different combinations of red, black, yellows and white, along with the checkerboard pattern on their pauldrons. As they rode, the riders were reloading their pistols, having expended their shots in the chase.

As the Averlander's reached half a mile from the guns, Colonel Fish shouted." Take aim at their cavalry, set sights at 600 yards!" The gunner's then took aim, adjusting their shots to a point on the road six hundred yards away from their position. The gunner's raised up their lighters and awaited the orders.

Then the order came." Independent fire at will!" The gunner's touched off their saker's and the entire tree line was engulfed in smoke as the cannons roared. Over 20 cannon balls flew down range, there were three shot's that went wide, another two were to low and embedded in the earth but fifteen shots found their targets. These cannon balls rolled into the line of pistoliers like a bowling ball getting a strike. Well over two hundred horses fell as the cast iron balls shot through the flesh of the horses. While most of the cannon balls hit the horses or the lower extremities of their riders, two were high enough that they blasted through the heads and chests of their riders, turning men into red mist.

The Brunswick Corp's gunners though didn't take time to watch their destruction. Instead they had their crews load up the saker's once more, the crew springing into action after the first shot was expended. The Nulnite Pistoliers didn't take time to lessen their gallop either, they still had Averlander's on their heels.

The Averlander's themselves took the complete destruction of their vanguard in stride though, their commander ordered the pistoliers to spread out into the field in a formation only two deep. They shifted their target away from the Nulnite pistoliers, turning their attention to the artillerists. Their pistols were loaded up and they were ready to unload once they closed the distance. To the officers who observed the Averlander's, most realized the pistolier commander was half decent at his role when they saw the maneuver.

At three hundred yards the cannons open fired again, this time the destruction wrought by the cannons were seriously lessened as the shots were ragged. Only thirty of the pistoliers fell from this volley. They still came on, as they got closer the men of the Brunswick Corps saw the pistolier's horses foaming at their mouths. The Nulnite Pistoliers rode into the woods and well behind the melee troops to rest their mounts.

Then at seventy yards General Sharpe roared out to the handgunners and riflemen." Volley fire! First rank fire!" Several hundred musket's unleashed their fire at the oncoming horsemen and scores of pistoliers fell. Players fell as well, these men and women were easier to pick out because of their customized gear and thus made the greatly reduced pistoliers easier to break. As the handgunners lowered their muskets to reload, Sharpe shouted out once more." Second rank fire!" As the musket's cracked another hundred of the pistoliers and their horses fell. There were gaps in the formation now which couldn't be filled fast enough.

Then the gunners at their artiliery pieces started to unload the grape shot into the horsemen at forty yards. This was ragged though and not all at once, there was a five second delay from when the first cannon spoke with flames till the last. Now hundreds more of the pistoliers were dead and broken on the ground. Yes they were close enough now that the bot's raised up their firearms and started to fire into the gunners and musketeers. Each of them raising up two pistol's, one in each hand, then firing. They discarded their first set and fired again with another, then another. There may have been only 200 remaining but they unleashed a large enough volley that could match eight hundred musket armed men.

The gunner crews and musketeers, the bots, were the hardest hit, scores fell from the near point blank fire. The player gunners were also hit, two players fell from the gun fire. Like's Gaming was shot in his left arm, straight through the flesh, yet it didn't hit the bone thankfully.

The pistoliers on the other hand were finished, they had lost over 70% of their force in just the past 3 minutes. They couldn't urge their mounts any further into the superior numbers of the Brunswick Corps. The player's commanding the Averlander pistoliers turned their horses and ran. They broke and soon after their bot's followed after them.

The call went up from the officers." Hold your fire! Hold your Fire!" The bot's reloaded their weapons and held back from firing after the pistoliers, then moved to fill in the positions of the fallen to keep the ranks as straight as possible. What uninjured gunners there were, they saw about reloading their cannons with the reduced crew. The injured bots and players were sent back to get patched up by the warrior priests and other healers. Colonel Fish set about moving the command of the gun's whom player's had fallen at, under their command. Above the head's of the gunner's and a large amount of the hand gunner's their recitals turned red, representing the players they had killed. This was an ambush, not a battle with an invite sent to the partaking parties, so the players would be marked by the taking of the lives they had done.

The guns were loaded up, crew members were given new roles and besides the wounded men and horses, the battlefield was clear. The Averlander's pistoliers retreated back into their side of the woods, leaving the Brunswick Corp's with no enemy before them. The men rested, the weapons cleaned and cannons re aimed.

After twenty minutes though, a mile away, the Brunswick Corp's could hear the rumbling of drums in a marching tune. At the tree line to the east, the infantry of the Averlander Vanguard gathered and the Brunswick Corp's awaited them.

/

 **Wasteland, 40 miles South of Marienburg, 3:24 PM**

Relief rushed through the crew of the _Titan's Hand_ as they finally saw the tops of the Marienburg fleet. After two days of constant sailing downstream and repairing their ship, hoping that the Imperial Navy wouldn't catch up to them, the sight of safety was welcomed. Just a few more miles and around another bend and the crew would be amongst friendly sails.

Even from several miles away though, the dust cloud from the Marienburg army could be seen making it's way to the south. Though there was a good sized dust cloud, it was in fact only two thirds of the army that Marienburg mustered. The other third was in Middenland to hold back the Middenheimer's from flanking the main army. The main army could make some good distance on it's own each day, but it stuck with the fleet since they served to secure the river and had most of the supplies belonging to the army. Especially since getting a whole broadside into the flank of your army wasn't anything the ground pounder's wanted to face.

The Marienburg forces were not an exclusive 'Empire Stlye Force' either. There were longships and chaos warriors, there were elves of all verities marching under one banner, lizardmen prowled the water and land, while the cavalry corp's of Marienburg was made up almost exclusively of the Dixie Boy's. There were also a few surprises only the Marienburger's had that were waiting for when they faced their equals on the battlefield.

Phillip, who was wearing his lighter clothes and out of his armor, stood next to Rosalina on the aft deck. He spoke to the captain of the _Titans Hand_." Well looks like the real fight is going to begin soon. Any word on your position in the fleet?"

Rosalina was slumped forward on the railing of the aft deck. A neutral expression on her face as she replied." We're getting sent to look after the barges. If we didn't have the damage that the Titan Hand took back up the river, she would be serving in the second line behind the main ships-of-the-line."

Phillip acknowledged her words with a grunt." Well at least you'll be relatively safe on that front." Rosalina looked up at him with an 'hmm ' and a quizzical look. Phillip gave a light smile and spoke." What? Can a man not wish a comrade not to be in the main line of danger."

Rosalina turned her head back to the crew as they were talking amongst themselves and getting musical instruments out. She asked Phillip." Comrade? I thought we were just working together because our respective bosses said so?"

Phillip chuckled aloud and told Rosalina." We spilt blood together, killed together, worked together and all together didn't try to cuss each other out. I'd say were comrades or acquaintances."

Rosalina's lip's turned upwards and she said." I think I like that. Better than how my crew and I started out." She then stood and turned, crossing her arms under her breasts and asked." So once we make it to the fleet what do you plan on doing comrade?"

Phillip's smile faltered as he replied." To reply to my own boss and direct him and the armies general on which ground is best for the cavalry. It's one thing to point it out but another to have someone who knows the lay of the land of the course. I'd expect the same thing with Chica, infact I think she flew the coop a few minutes ago to hook up with her razorback riders."

Behind Rosalina, some of her crew were drawing up strings and talking about what song to play. That was at the back of her mind as she nodded." Well I hope your not at the head of any idiotic cavalry charges."

Phillip gave a little 'ha' and his smile was back." Don't worry, I may be playing dress up like a knight, but I know that I live in the 21st century not the 14th. I know what cannons and repeaters do the cavalry. Some of my people though, not so much. Especially those insane Wood Elves…." He looked off to the side and cursed under his breath." Fuck that bastard bringing that religion here." He felt Rosalina stare at him and he looked back at her." It's nothing."

From the main deck they could hear a crew man call up to Rosalina." Boss! We got something special for you. Listen to this!" One of the crew hit the ship's bell twice and the impromptu band started to play.

Rosalina recognized the tune, she had heard it more than once in the Marienburg tavern's. She smiled and turned to Phillip." Care for a dance before we have to go our separate ways?" She offered him her hand.

Phillip smirked and took it." Certinally. Lead the way m'lady!" They danced and so the band played the shanty.

/

 _"Merrily we sailed along_

 _Though the waves were plenty strong_

 _Down the twisting river Reik_

 _Following a song..._

 _Legend's faded storyline_

 _Tried to warn us all_

 _Oh, they called her "Loreley"_

 _Careful or you'll fall... "_

 _/_

 _"Oh, the stories we were told_

 _Quite a vision to behold_

 _Mysteries of the seas in her eyes of gold..._

 _Laying on the silver stone, such a lonely sight_

 _Barnacles become a throne, my poor Loreley... "_

 _/_

 _"And the winds would cry, and many men would die_

 _And all the waves would bow down to the Loreley..."_

 _"You would not believe your eyes, how a voice could hypnotize_

 _Promises are only lies from Loreley_

 _In a shade of mossy green, seashell in her hand_

 _She was born the river queen, ne'er to grace the land..."_

 _/_

 _"Oh, the song of Loreley_

 _Charms the moon right from the sky..._

 _She will get inside your mind, loveley Loreley..._

 _When she cries "Be with me until the end of time"_

 _You know you will ever be with your Loreley..."_

 _/_

 _"And the winds would cry, and many men would die_

 _And all the waves would bow down to the Loreley..."_


	8. Battle of the Watchtower

**Disclaimer: See first chapter.**

I want to say thank you all for following this story. I'm still continuing it and feeding off your reviews. So… Feed Me!

Reply to Reviewers-

Guest: Thank you for your review I have Imagined the Helicarriers included from the very start of the fic. It was fun to finally get them into the fic proper. As for Klein well… keep on reading. Also we finally got proper airships for Warhammer… to bad its for age of shitmar.

Belo- Thank you for your kind words. This should have been up months ago and if you had logged in I would of told you that I was continuing it.

/

 **Sylvania, 4:30 PM 11th of September**

It was simply called The Watchtower. It stood on the southern end of the Fae Marsh's and was the tallest of structures for miles around. At over 100 feet tall, a person who stood on the towers battlements could see for leagues in all directions in a clear day. To the mixed army of Imperial's, Dwarfs, Skaven, Elves and Beastmen it was a rallying point for their army. Numbering Just over 6,000 bot's and under 70 players, this mixed force had spent the day marching to and preparing to defend the watch tower.

At the base of the watch tower was the battery of dwarf cannons, with a sprinkling of organ guns throughout the gaps between units, including a helblaster which was set up on the far left flank. While 20 yards behind the main battle line was a mortar, that would lob explosive shot into the oncoming horde. Making up the front rank soldiers were dwarven and human musketeers and thunderers, who with their powerful muskets could pierce the armor any chainmail wearing orc. Then behind them were the ranks upon ranks of human and dwarf soldiers who made up the majority of melee based ranks of the army. Then making up the ranks after the main melee troops were the dwarf crossbows and elven archers, who could shoot over the heads of the ranks of melee troops. The final rank's were of the auxiliary soldiers, the beastmen, skaven and elven foot. There were also the reserves of cavalry, including the recently arrived light cavalry, fresh from their raid on the PLA forces to the north. These cavalry forces were put on the flanks of the mixed army.

The assumed battlefield had also been prepared by the defenders of the tower. There were small stone piles, about a hundred yards between each one, leading from the tower onto the battlefield. There were 15 increments made up of 5 piles of stones each. Though these stones were partially buried on the north side, they were exposed on the south, with a single green stone shown from them. This was warp stone and through specialized telescopes, such as those on skaven jezzails and also used by engineers, these stones glowed. Thus a sniper, or for that matter anyone with such a scope, could judge the distance for shooting. These stones were also visible in darkness, so night time snap shots were a little more accurate.

But of the commanders, the leaders of this small army, mingled on the third floor of the tower. They were waiting and talking with one another as the day wore on in lighter clothes since there was little for them to do except direct their subordinates. The preparations were complete for the upcoming battle and there was no need to pace the lines, unlike the NCO"s and lower officers. In fact a bottle of Estalian wine was opened so the commanders could share a small drink before the oncoming fight.

Roshi sat on a plush upholstered chair next to her new ally Rufus Adler, the famed Golden Wolf of Middenheim. Adler for his part was sitting in a chair like that of Roshi, though with the companion of Tatiana leaning over the top. The trio were looking out of the north facing window. Behind them Desiree stood in new armor she had been forging, black armor with red leather trim and fittings alongside her husband Kurt, the spymaster Argo, the human commander Weiss and also the dark elf Kirito who were talking to one another in their own group. Above them the group could hear skittering and scratching as the skaven Jezzail sharp shooters moved around, not yet put into guard.

Roshi ticked her glass and asked Rufus." It sounds like I'm back in the tunnels of Zhufbar hunting rouge skaven. It's a bit disturbing."

Rufus murred." Hmm, I don't mind it. It reminds me a little bit of home actually."

Tatianna looked down." How's the scratching of rat claws like home?" The minotaur woman asked of her lover.

Rufus stretched out a bit, crossing his ankles." Back in my old family house, our home was over 150 years old. We didn't have insulation so it got cold in the winter time, never to the degree of it being the same temp outside mind you, but plenty cold enough. It was warm enough for the squirrels, chipmunks and rats who inhabited the walls. So I would hear them scurry around me in the middle of night in the dead of winter." Rufus told the pair.

Tatianna added." You said you were a rustic. Glad I never had to deal with that at my papa's dacha.

Roshi and Tatiana looked at him with light shock." And how was that reassuring? It sounds more like a Lovecraft story." Roshi stated with Tatiana nodding her head.

Rufus gave a snort." Actually, it didn't. I only said it reminded me of home. But I got used to it back home so I have no problem with rodents, even large ones."

Then from the larger group the trio could hear Argo speak." No he certainly doesn't!" She gave a laugh and then went back to conversing with her group. The witch hunter giving a slight smile.

Tatianna sighed and Roshi looked at Argo and then Rufus. Understanding crawling over her expression." So… isn't it illegal in your country to go after a girl that young?"

Rufus coughed and shifted." Video game darling, she was at least 16 when we had our tryst and she is probably at least 17 by now and plus the laws governing virtual sex is still on the drawing board I think… and I hope…. But it was only for a night and a day, I prefer older and more mature women instead of girls under the legal age. Like my darling Tatiana." He looked up at the minotaur woman's face, though her boobs loomed over him." Isn't that right honey?" Rufus gave a smirk.

Tatianna punched his arm." And I am very mature. Especially mature on how we like to roleplay with you being the teacher and me the 'young, nubile, student'." She gave a laugh with her fiancée giving a short nervous chuckle.

The English dwarf woman raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she heard the exchange. She thought.' Strange people… very strange people these two… but at least Rufus seems to have some caveats about younger women and oldermen… unlike da.' She then looked back at the window and saw the dust cloud from the north getting closer. She decided to change the subject." So, I would say another 20 minutes and our mutual friends should be visible. Wouldn't you say?"

Tatianna and Rufus looked up at the approaching dust cloud. Tatiana 'hmmed' and spoke." Looks like she's right. At about five they should be here."

Rufus picked up his wide brimmed witch hunter cap from the floor." Sounds about right. Not long till our little shindig starts. Shame we can't have the A2-C2 around to help." The _Grimnir's Fire_ had to retreat back to another base after delivering it's pay loads. It needed to refuel, re-arm and obtain some reinforcements for the lost gyrocopter and that would take a day at least to preform those tasks." So when do you want us to head down to our regiments?" Rufus looked to Roshi.

Roshi told her fellow commander." I should say when the PLA are about 2 miles out. Then we can get a good look at what we're facing. Especially in regards to their wonder weapon." Part of the reason the easterners expected that PLA to force a battle this night was that they wanted to use the war rig as a moral boosting tool and to use said tool on the riders who attacked their camp. Though the main reason was that the easterners had soundly routed the PLA light cavalry so if they stopped there was sure to be a repeat of this morning's antics with little in the way to stop them. There also was the reason that if the dwarfs wanted to they could bomb the camp with their air superiority. There was to be a battle tonight for certain.

Tatianna downed the rest of her wine, then started to get on her heavy armor, equipping it from her menu." Good. I can't wait to kill a more PLA, even with their wonder weapon I'm going to rip those bastards to shreds."

/

The PLA were in rough shape. It was a full day of hard marching to the south. They had to recover as best they could after that raid, then set off as fast as they could. The players saw the destruction of Grimnir's Fire had wrought upon the orcs and the Pistoliers. The sight was despairing after the rude awakening they had. But they were motivated to keep moving, their colonel and orc commander had been promising them vengeance and plenty of loot. These were not bots and NPCs, but player characters they were facing who had gold and magic items on them. Their bosses promised each soldier could keep any gear they found off the bodies of the fallen enemy. That had help cause a spring in the step of the players who ordered their regiments onward.

Then there was the War Rig, called the Boars Roar. The Boars Roar had a shell like a freight truck, it's front cab, and large boxy trailer somewhat similar to the cross country truck and transporter. That is where the similarities ended though. The cab was made out of iron and had iron sheets for windows with small slits for the orc driver to look through, these sheets could be pushed up to allow greater vision for the driver, but were otherwise left down. The cab had a bulldozer blade down at the fender.

Behind the cab was a large rectangular wooden box. It came in three different levels. The lowest level was just high enough to allow the 25 boars that powered the War Rig to stand upright. The second level was where the goblins resided who would poke the boars below with sharp sticks to force them to move. Their orders taken from a speaking tube connected to the driver's wheel. They also fed the beasts and there were also arrow slits that allowed the goblins to shoot out of the war rig. The third level was a platform on top of the box. With the wooden sides it protected the humans who manned the swivel guns. Then there were the two turrets.

These turrets were inspired by the old tank destroyers of world war 2, specifically the maurder. Where the weapons could swivel up to about 45% and be protected by an iron plate. The rear turret was a ballista, which had black powder grenades as ammunition. Then at the front was a weapon from another era. It was a large steel instrument of death, with a long air cooled barrel and was fed by a belt of .50 caliber ammunition. It was a heavy stubber, a weapon of the 41st millennium which was based on the Browning .50 caliber machine gun. A type of weapon that could tear through almost any kind of non-magical armor, and it could fire far faster than any repeater rifle or helblaster that the Imperials or dwarfs could produce. How the orcs found this weapon and were able to equip an entire fleet of war rigs with such weaponry though is a story of another day.

It was a story that the men of the PLA didn't care about. What they cared about was that they had a fucking machine gun! A machine gun was something they had all played with in their FPS games in real life, or had seen such weapons in internet video's or demonstrations of which they saw firsthand the power of the machine gun. They had something that was real, something that they knew had destroyed entire armies before. It was something that the players knew they would win with.

Soon they began to see their enemy, as they crossed the foot hills they could see an army of the eastern rebels. To the men on the ground it looked like they were equally matched, about 6,000 bots on each side. The easterners has their forces arrayed before a tower, set in defensive positions with plenty of guns. But really, what were they going to be in just a few minutes? Once the orcs got into close combat it would be only a matter of the colonel declaring the place where the war rig would put its firepower.

The PLA were not harassed or harried as they formed their battle lines. With Instant communication and control of the bots it was done in only a few moments. The remaining orc heavy cavalry along with the knights formed opposite of the easterners own cavalry, the knights to their left and the orcs to the right. With the guns set in the middle to concentrate fire against the dwarf cannons.

Giving the men a bit of time to rest David talked to his commanders, giving them verbal orders that would be unable to issue once battle was joined. The orcs and skaven would act as the anvil of the PLA army, they would be the ones first into the melee as the cavalry countered the easterners own. The artillery meanwhile would be targeting those dwarfen cannons and that tower. Meanwhile the skaven armed with jezzails and the war rig would target the enemy organ guns and their own jezzails. The plan didn't have much in the way of flare, but it was simple and with the piece of modern weaponry they were sure to have the advantage.

So it was that finally at 5 PM the battle began.

The PLA marched forward and their guns opened fire. The sakers ball's lanced out and bounced on the dirt before the battlelines, from the first volley only one cannon ball stopped 5 yards short of the eastern lines. But it gave the artillery crews a chance to adjust the aim of their guns. From the dwarf batteries there wasn't a counter to the PLA, instead there was adjustments made on their own accords for their own targets. Again the sakers opened fire and this time they managed to carve into a line of thunderers and partly into a unit of swordsmen behind. Still the battery held fire as the cannon balls were getting closer, bouncing ever closer to them and the watch tower.

At 500 yards the organ guns and hell blasters opened fire with their heavy weaponry at maximum elevation. Of course, a good portion missed, but the volume of fire was enough to fell a few ranks of orcs and cause a few score deaths to the bots. At receiving the fire from the war machines the PLA march became a surge, its cavalry went from a trot to a gallop and the War Rig bounded forward.

There was movement as well from the Easterner lines. On their right flank their knights prepared to make the charge against the smaller force of PLA knights. The two forces neared each other, moving at the same galloping speed, their lances lowered… and then from beneath the PLA's feet emerged vines and brambles ,wrapping around the hooves and legs of their horses, binding them to the ground. From the Eastern knights was a green light as Bertha used her magic to slow and bind the enemy cavalry, making them into solitary standing targets instead of a charging force. The easterners let loose a battle cry as they took aim with their lanced and carved into the enemy knights with a thunderous crash of steel on steel.

Around the battlefield there was the sound of more gunpowder and arcane weaponry being used. Jezzails and long rifles were the fire small arms to lance out and shoot into the PLA forces, then a few moments later they were followed by the mass volleys of the muskets. Colonel David was unlucky enough to be caught in the mass volley, three thunderers shot and one musket ball pierced through his armor and into his chest and head. He wasn't even leading from the front and had dodged those bullets from the snipers meant for him, but so it was that when it came to volley fire men could be missed or hit with the most unlucky of blows. The numbers of those lost from the ranged fire, now that they were so closed suddenly became hundreds of bots. But it wasn't enough to slow them down. Even the lightly armored skirmishers on the left flank of the easterners army barely did any damage to the on coming orcs, with their bows and pistols.

After their second volley the ranged troops of the easterners retreated back to the base of the tower as the melee troops surged to counter charge the oncoming PLA. Shields were raised, heavier weapons raised, the easterners met the PLA with blood and fury as they met a little ahead of the front line war machines. The War Rig opening fire at last, now that the melee soldiers were committed. The heavy stubber lancing out and raking the tower with it's .50 caliber rounds, chunks of masonry being blaseted off the building. The PLA's small arm troops also fired their own weapons at the auxiliaries and missile troops of the easterners at the base of the tower. There was a swelling of moral, yes there were losses but the PLA were in close combat, they would win this they could finally defeat the easterners! They would defeat the rebels, the dwarfs and have the east secured!

Finally the dwarf battery opened up with their cannons. At only 200 yards their siege shot blasted from the muzzles of their guns, the conical shaped shot, designed to destroy castle walls, were apt enough to pierce through the War Rigs front armor. Every shot was able to piece through and explode with their small charges. The war rig was destroyed in one volley and where there was once a hope, now there was dread.

It took a few moments more, but the volley from the reloaded frontline warmachines tore into and through tightly packed PLA troopers. It was to much for the bots who started to break. The skaven were the ones who made it out first, followed by the humans, the orcs though stayed behind. They had a bone to pick with the dwarfs and so fought on as their allies pulled back and regrouped.

The musketeers of the PLA were over ridden as the easterner knights finished off the PLA's own order. They really didn't stop to handle the other members the PLA though, continuing through the routing state troops as they charged into the rear of the orc cavalry and pistoliers. The skaven and remaining state troops retreated to their artillery and gathered around it. Setting their defenses to hold off the coming attack from their front after the orcs were dealt with, the few remaining players decided that they would slip out under the cover of the approaching darkness.

Even as they regained their lost breath and moral of their bots, the PLA heard something from behind them. It was the sound of kettle drums being beaten. The remaining human players turned their heads and saw coming down the trail an army of Halflings.

At the head of the army was a force of 30 or so Man Eaters, with one of them banging a pair of cauldrons strapped to his body like a pair of drums. Behind them were thousands of halflings marching with spears at the shoulder, bows strung and of course their 'Half Tank' rumbling ever forwards.

Even though this army was shorter than the PLA's own, it was enough to cause the remaining players to break. They could not hold back two armies, they could not preform a fighting retreat or stay organized. They were routed completely and started to run on their own accord in what ever direction they thought was safest.

They had pursuers, not just from the Ram cavalry of the Halflings, or the many horsemen of the Easterners. But they were perused by other's.

/

One of the pursuers of the PLA was none other than Rufus and his pistoliers. He was riding at the head of his bot by about a hundred yards in the darken forest path. He was chasing after the remaining PLA pistoliers and were close to them. But because he was close to them, he was also subject to their fire first. Given that he was fighting players their accuracy was so much greater than the computer control aiming of the bots. One of them turned to him and shot at Rufus with a brace of wheel locks. "Whizz Fluff!" The guns barked out and the bullets whizzed by Rufus's head before the rider turned back to load.

The Witch Hunter though was not one to take that kindly. He drew his flint lock revolver, with his other regular flintlock in his left hand, and then took aim at the pair of riders before him. They were both galloping down the darken path, their horses were causing the shots to be bouncing and their shots would be inaccurate. That would be if Rufus didn't speak." Accusation!" He targeted both of the pistolier's horses, not the pistoliers themselves. It allowed his aim to become level and given the flank of the horses were a larger target than the armored backs of the men it was sure to hit. He fired twice at them in rapid succession and both horses stumbled and slowed. They didn't stop though, but it gave the Rufus an opening to finish them of.

Boosting the Accusation had taken a quarter of his MP bar off but he still had 60% percent of a bar left and he used it on his war horse. He used the Animal Handling skill, one that he didn't have as near as many points like his Scholar skill, but one that he could use in times of emergency. This was once such time. He used his MP and had it restore stanmina of his horse, which drained the bar even faster, 2% percent each second. He needed only 10 seconds though.

Rufus's horse galloped onwards and he raised up his pistols to his sides. There was a tiny spark at the back of his head, knowing he was about to take a pair of human lives. It was a spark though, he had taken so many lives already, he let them haunt them from time to time, yet the PLA were always the easiest to kill. As he passed the Pistoliers he fired his flintlocks at their heads. In an explosion of gun powder and flame the two pistoliers fell off their horses as the bullets ripped into their brain pans and out the other side of their helmets.

Even as he rode past the rider less horses he was caught in a hail of lead. There were still 5 more riders ahead of him and they opened with a fusillade of fire with their guns. Two of the bullets hit home, one striking Rufus in the left shoulder and another the chest of his horse. He cursed as he was forced to slow down from the bullet hits. His also cursed as his life bar drained from the shot, that was a fifth of his bar. If it had been his chest that would have been half and his head, well that would of caused him to stop the pursuit all together, either from him being dead or from the fact he needed to heal.

Rufus was slowed and he took time to reload, letting loose of the animal handling skill and his horse slowed even more. He was down to only 30% percent of his MP bar by then. He started to reload his pistols as his enemies did so. He started with the revolver, holstering the single barreled pistol for now. It took longer, about two and a half times longer than a single barrel pistol, even with the skills with fire arms he had it still took a long time. For the pistoliers he was chasing however they could reload faster as they were made for this sort of combat. Even as he was half way through reloading the revolver there were more shots coming his way. Another bullet clipped his right leg and 10% percent of his health went down as flesh was blasted out of his leg.

He looked down to his leg and caught sight of creatures moving in the darkness. They were almost as big as Ogres but so much faster, so much slimmer and were running past him and at the PLA Pistoliers. They were not beastmen, though they had…. "Oh Shit." Rufus realized what they were when they pounced.

Gigantic half men, half wolves leaped from the forests and ripped into the pistoliers. One by one they were taken down along with their horses, till there was their leader remaining and a single pistolier. The latter dodged the wolves and managed to shoot one with bot of his pistols. He looked to be free of the dogs when some thing came at him from the front. It wasn't a wolf, but rather a man in full plate who leaped over the horse's head and gripped the pistoliers shoulders, pushing him and knocking Jeremy off of his horse.

The man wasn't wearing a helmet and his red hair was the color of blood. What the pistolier saw last was his attackers eyes as he descended upon his throat. The pistoliers throat was ripped open from the fangs of the man. No Vampire! The pistoliers health bar fell fast as his life blood was sucked out and he tried to push his attackers off, yet felt weaker with every pulse. He twitched as he died under the fangs of the vampire.

Rufus rode up to the scene, the wolves having more care about the PLA than him it seemed. He looked down to the bloody scene before him and finished reloading. As he watched the scene before him, a sigh of relief passed his lips. Rufus spoke to the Vampire as he fed upon his prey." Hello Klein."

/

 **Averland, 35 miles East of the Nuln border, 7:40 PM**

It has been a running battle all day long, but at last it had come to a stop. The Brunswick Corps had delayed the PLA, smashing their vanguard as they moved from position to position, their guns moving with the flying artillery carriages to prepared positions and their musketeers unleashing a volley or two before falling back. They kept the PLA running and when they countered with their fresh melee troops, they broke the exhausted vanguard upon their blades.

Tonight the gunners were resting now that it had turned dark. Their cannons having cooled in the autumn night. After so many miles and so many deaths they needed it.

That being said, there wasn't much in the ways of celebration at the various fire pits. Drinking yes, but for songs, dancing or jokes, there wasn't time for that and not much meaning when they would repeat this again the next day. So those who were lucky not to have work details in creating new emplacements, ate, drank and slept around fires and in tents.

Sergeant Oak and Delia meanwhile cuddled next to a fire. The rest of their section was sleeping and the pair hugged themselves under a blanket. Both were too tired for sex, not to mention most of their friends were sleeping around them on the floor of the forest.

As they looked into the fire Oak spoke first." I will admit, today wasn't as fun as the day I met you." Delia looked up and then nuzzled into his neck, her soft fur pressed to him.

"That day was terrifying for me and the kids I had to look after." She replied after a moment, not sounding pleased.

"To you it was, to me it was one day that I will always remember. How I hunted down and nearly killed every single one of those PLA troopers, running from tree to tree, shooting with my muskets, downing them with each blow. Then finding out it was to save you, a beastwoman surrounded by a herd of innocent kids. The day I killed so many, the day I save so many and the day I met a woman who was my match." He smiled to her sweetly." It's a story I want to tell our kids and grandkids."

Delia rested a hand on his leg, patting it for a long minute. She spoke softly." Can we make it out of here, let alone make it work on the outside?"

Oak spoke without any hesitation." Yeah, yeah we can. I don't have much in my bank, but I got enough to get me over to Scotland to meet you at least. I am a bit of bumpkin so don't expect much in the way of manners, less you train me up in here so I don't know how well them meeting with your folks will go."

Delia closed her eyes." There will be problems with them. They are old money, maybe not gentry but still richer than a few lords and just as posh." She walked her claws up his leg, finger by finger." They never had to kill a person with their bare hands, never had a bullet wiz over their heads, get slashed by a blade or fight in a battle line with no one caring about who you are… well maybe my dad when he was college hooligan. Even then it was for only a few games. He's tempered out with age though. Both my parents will also be hoovering over me when if I get out of here. I maybe in my twenties, but I will be fresh from coma or close enough to it and they'll not let me out of their sight." She closed her hand on Oaks knee." Especially if I'm able to tell them what happened in here."

Oak listen to his love and then ran a hand down her arm, trying to sooth her." Yeah, my family is going to be just as bad when I get out… hey whats all this about 'if' you know we are going to get out."

Delia turned her head about to say something when Oak continued." Now don't you say that 'because were in a death game, on a battlefield and in a war'. Lots of men and women also go through the same thing as us, like in the real world. They want to make it out and for the most part they have a good chance of doing so. War is dangerous, war is deadly and this game world makes it so much more than just humans shooting at each other with rifles. But guess what, tens of thousands of people are going to escape this world in the end." His smile became wider.

"I am going to make damn well sure that we are going to be one of them. We are going to meet, we are going to talk, we are going to kiss, make love and be a family. When we pass it will not be on some muddy battlefield, its going to be surrounded by our family, by the people we love and who return it back. Even if I'm just going to go out like an old coot rambling about I was in the flying artillery." He sounded optimistic, but what convinced Delia was seeing his eyes light up with hope. Those were not the eyes of someone trying to comfort her, those were the eyes of a man who believed in their destiny and embraced it. She felt those words, saw his eyes and embraced it.

She wrapped her arms around him and spoke." Thank you Oak. I love you."

Oak kissed her head and hugged back." I love you to." For the night, at least until the rumble of guns started again, they were happy.

/

 **Sylvania, 9:00 PM**

Rufus hummed to himself the 'Rains of Castamere' as he lead the werewolves, the captured PLA player on a horse and the single vampire back into the camp. Thankfully he and his men were leading the column, so while there were a few stares of the players, there wasn't any hostile intent behind them. He had also sent a message ahead explaining that he was bringing along some newly found bestial allies, but spared the details.

The path to the base of the tower took them directly before the commanders of the army and their hanger on, illuminated by braziers brought out for night lighting. The group also included his friends and soon to be family. There were the knights as well and a few of them had happy grins, smirks and general good demeanor at seeing Klein, while others were not very pleased looking.' Can't blame them.' Thought Rufus.' After all he's a race none of them knew existed for players. A race that had been an NPC only thing at that.'

He had been the one to create Klein, using the dying body of the other vampire to grant Klein the Blood Kiss. As it turned out his scholar skill and his own knowledge of how the warhammer world of Maleus worked had saved at least one life… once.' I am going to make damn sure not to reveal that trick to many other people. Klein's a decent guy but is the PLA got their hands on that trick then goddamn, nothing to stop them from sacrificing their own to make an army of vampires. Along with that army of vampires also comes with certain other powers.' He reflected.

He had a very short and very tense conversation with Klein back in the woods about how he was now experiencing blood lust and how he had the power of magic, something he had no idea how to use, flowing through his veins. Though that made between bites on the dead and semi-angry glares. There was also the matter of the werewolves and their leaders who were a more pressing concern.

They were for the most part NPCs, in particular NPC's belonging to the beastman faction. They could speak and in fact he met with one very talkative and very Imperial looking werewolf by the name of Hans Minna. He was dressed similarly to that of a witch hunter in his wolf form, with a great leather coat and a broad brimmed hat similar to Rufus's own. The werewolf had introduced himself after the pistoleirs had been massacred.

After a few moments of spirited conversation with the confused human player, Hans then allowed Rufus to meet his mistress, a child beastwoman by the name of Silica. Thankfully for Rufus she was a player and so the mood had lighten when he met the serious girl, because she wasn't an AI rambling on like a normal human. She said that wanted to speak with the commander of the previous battle, the one who had control of the dwarfs and the Imperials, to work out a deal for her army of wolves to join them and take on the PLA.

She marched directly behind Rufus, standing next to Klein with her werewolves following them. Making for an interesting column, almost as interesting as the group he was riding towards. There was Roshi, Argo, Weiss, Tatianna, Rusty, Kirito, Cooper and the what Rufus could assume were the halfling commanders. There were a trio of halflings and an ogre maneater towering over them all, his clothes included a weathered feather headdress and a pair of swivel guns that he acted like were pistols. There were more players, including the knights, but those were the people that Rufus could pick out from a glance.

He waved at the group and rode up, hopping off his horse." Hey folks. I brought a few presents." He pulled the horse the carried Jeremy on its back, by its bridal to the crowd as Klein walked up.

The newly minted Vampire walked up to his fellow knights and greeted those who wanted to talk to him, telling them what had happen to him in the past two days. Behind him came Silica and her crew of werewolves. Many of them transforming out of their bestial forms into something more human, including Hans. He became a fairly lanky gentleman with piercing blue eyes and a thin face, somewhere in his late 20's or mid 30's.

Rufus pulled the PLA trooper off of the horse and forced him to his knees. He proceeded to pull off the gag covering Jeremy's face who extoled." Goddamn… alright what do I need to say or do to keep alive?" He looked at the group before him, the commanders of the army that had soundly defeated him and wrecked the War Rig. He was their prisoner now, a prisoner of an army that had been opposed to the PLA, who were ruled by some of the worse players in the game, second only to the Brets and possibly the Chaos Warriors of the Wastes. Of course he wanted to make it out of the game, not caring to much about loyalty, so he needed these people to want to keep him alive.

Roshi stepped forward." Tell us what the strengths are of the PLA in eastern Averland." She asked.

Jeremy nodded without hesitation, he spoke only a moment later." We were it. We had an assignment to raid the mootland from our bosses. I didn't want to go there, the bosses ordered us to" He then gave the halflings the most sincere look of pity he could muster, though he was trying, but didn't really feel it in his heart. The halflings looked unimpressed and the maneater drew a butcher knife that may of well been a sword at one point, sharpening it" After that I heard from a few of my buddies that the entire army is moving out to the west. That includes most of the green skins. The ones we got were just gung ho to take on you dwarfs. Even since what happened out east they've been crappin on about how they were going to take back their lands in the mountains."

Roshi understood that, she had fought in those battles that saw the orcs evicted from the east. It was a bloody affair, one that could have been avoided but it was done all the same. Vengeance was on the greenskin's mind for a while now it appeared, especially with how insulting those orc players they captured were.

While Jeremy was talking Klein had walked over to the group and was making a B-line for Rufus." Hey Rufus I got a question and I want to look you in the eye when I ask it."

Rufus turned and looked at Klein." Yeah wha-"

Roshi continued to question the PLA pistolier. "What else can you tell me, do they hav-" She and Rufus were both interrupted by a meaty punch from Klein's fist hitting Rufus's face.

Roshi and a few others jumped at the sudden scene and Rufus tumbled down to the ground. A bit of his health bar being knocked down from the sucker punch. Before Rufus could recover Klein bent down and gripped his collar." Did you know that what you did would work!?" He yelled at Rufus.

Rufus, at first shaking off the punch, suddenly found himself shaking at a vampire yelling into his face. His eyes looking at the fangs of the beastly former knight. He spoke as quickly as he could." Yes… yes!" His voice cracked from the sudden strain and the half truth. Yes he knew the lore behind the blood kiss, if it worked in the game otherwise… the scholar skill did say it may as well work but he wasn't a hundred percent on that." I was sure about how the process worked, I just worked around a few rituals!" He had reduced it to the most basic form in effect where oaths, curses and otherwise would not be used to bind both Klein and his sire togeather. That said, there was more than enough blood to make it disgusting.

Klein held a gaze with Rufus, blood red eyes starting down at him." I hope you know that I thought I was dead until I saw that note you put into my coffin. I don't care if you apologized for what happened, you killed me!" He then stood upright and looked down at Rufus." But you also saved my life. If you going to pull that shit again with anyone else, I want you to remember how even tempered I am." He looked at the stun faces and then slicked his long red hair back." Excuse me, I need to talk to my knights."

Klein then spinned around on his heels, then walked to the armored warriors, Weiss following him and the rest of the human knights afterwards. Walking forward on her cat like legs was Silica, she stepped in as soon as Klein stepped away and began to speak." If it wasn't for me spending a month as Kiabou's slave I would say put a collar on that person. But since I was I have something else to say." She pressed her right hand over her heart." If you go west I want to join you. My werewolves are my kin, they have fought for me and I for them since I unlocked their power. They have saved dozens of Imperial players, some of them here already with us tonight. They as am I are guided by the gods to grant you their strength against the PLA and the heretics therein. Should you accept this then we will make the PLA blood run on the battlefields and water every tree between here and Marianburg with their blood." More than a few faces were filled with shock at the pre-teens words, Roshi, Tatianna and Kirito were wide eye at the sudden declaration, the latter even dropping his jaw. Those were words of a person set on a vendetta, with the tone of a fanatic. Rufus had even heard a tone with that of bot warrior priests.

Cooper scratched under his eye and spoke." If we're heading west there is no reason not to take her."

Argo was making some hand gestures, checking her menu before adding." Those werewolves are nearly as strong as ogres and faster still."

"And if you are going west then count me in as well." Spoke a halfling commander." The Averlanders have despoiled out land for the last time and if they win to the west then they'll be back again. We'll march to the west." The other two halflings agreed, each drawing a short sword and shouting." To Averland, to Averland!" The ogre grunted positively as well, not saying much.

Roshi seemed to of been out of her doldrum and looked at the wrecked War Rig. Her dwarves had salvaged it, along with some other weapons on the battlefield. The heavy stubber would prove useful in the battles to come. With the combined army as well she would be able to outflank the greatest current threat to her people… peoples. Maybe she wouldn't be able to break them but at least make the PLA hold back a portion of their force. She spoke after considering her options." Very well, we'll march west. But first." She turned back to Jeremy." Tell me what else is there. You said the entire PLA army is moving to the west. What else do they have, more of those War Rigs?"

Jeremy nodded." Yeah, at least half a dozen of them. Not all of them armed with Heavy Stubbers either. There is also something else, a few of my mates went down to Telia few weeks ago. They were going to raise an army of pikemen with as much gold as they could get their hands on. My friends said that he was going to get a 100,000 bots marching and crawling over the walls of Nuln when the war started."

The cheering Halflings stopped and any who could hear the Pistolier fell silent. That would double the threat that Averland poised. Yes they were mercenaries and they were pikemen, but still they were bots and they were cannon fodder without much use in the long run anyway. 100,000 bodies absorbing the grape shot, blades and overrunning the walls would allow the PLA to use their actual trained troops to take those positions. Even without the tactical or strategic mind, the inclusion of a new force of 100,000 soldiers was enough to make one pause for thought.

Rufus, sitting and rubbing his chin after that punch, feeling the swelling yet not so much the pain, was not pausing. He looked at Jeremy and then around him at the army surrounding them. He started to stand and spoke at the same time." Alright. That sucks, but eh things could be worse."

Eyes shifted towards the witch hunter, some asking with their looks.' How much worse can it get?'. Rufus, a man who less than a year had trouble looking people in the eyes, who could not hold much of a visual conversation caught their words with their looks, or at least was counting on them." Well you see it can always be worse for you folks because at least I'm on your side." He opened his menu and then offered up command of his soldiers to Tatianna." Having a wolf at your side is so much better than having him at your back." He then smirked to no one in particular, but rather looked around at every one and then reached for his horses bridal." I'm off to Telia ladies and gents. See you in Nuln."


End file.
